


For Those We Love

by JoeyTaylor



Series: Ennead [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Duelist, Duelist Kingdom, Gen, Genderswap, ennead, fem!Yugi, oneesan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-02-13 00:52:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 92,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12972138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoeyTaylor/pseuds/JoeyTaylor
Summary: A sudden attack out of nowhere leaves Yugi with no choice but to travel to an island in the middle of nowhere and compete to save her Ojiisan's soul. Can she defeat Pegasus, save everyone and somehow, finally, work out how to interact with Oneesan, all without getting herself killed?





	1. Challenger Approaching

**Author's Note:**

> And so a new season of Ennead begins :) 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy it.

It had been several weeks since they had narrowly escaped the Monster World RPG with their lives and a new term had started at Domino High. With the new term had come Yugi's mandatory switch to the female school uniform. Uniform that had been purchased just yesterday morning, fit perfectly and would last a good, long time, however...

"I'm not going!"

Jou couldn't help the chuckle that escaped as Yugi refused point blank to leave her bedroom.

"Yugi, you can't seriously refuse to go to school because of your new uniform." Ojiisan grumbled good-naturedly.

"Yes I can."

Ojiisan shook his head in amusement. Of all the things for Yugi to decide to be a 'normal' teenager about, her uniform hadn't been the thing he had expected her to pick. Curfew, homework, fast food maybe, but uniform? He supposed he couldn't blame her, he couldn't help but wonder who had decided that tiny skirts and curve clinging jackets in a horrendous shade of pink were mandatory for female students at the school. Whoever it was, they needed a slap.

"Yuge, we're going to be late." Jou complained, well aware Yugi didn't like being late to class if she could help it.

"So get going." Yugi's reply made him laugh again.

"Mutou Yugi, you will go to school or I won't let you have first pick of the booster packs that are coming in this afternoon." Ojiisan's tone brokered no argument.

Yugi's bedroom door opened slowly at that, revealing a brightly blushing girl with soft, wide amethyst purple eyes and who had tied her long black hair with its red tips back into a ponytail and her blonde, grown out fringe fell around her face, framing it. The girl's uniform didn't suit her very well, though it made her figure more obvious and though Jou could appreciate that little feature, he didn't like how uncomfortable she looked in it.

"That's not fair." Yugi protested to her Grandfather, the Millennium Puzzle hanging on her chest, held there securely by the rope that hung around her neck.

"You can't miss school." Ojiisan informed her, "No matter how bad the girls' uniform is. Now get going."

"Fine." Yugi's shoulders sank and she tugged down the skirt as she headed for the door, blush firmly stuck in place as she snatched up her backpack.

"Come on Yuge," Jou herded her out the building, picking up both of their bags as they went, "It's doesn't look that bad."

"It's not that it looks bad." Yugi explained, "It's that I could wear this skirt as a belt and this jacket is hideous. I don't see why I couldn't continue to wear the guy's uniform. It's not like I was doing any harm."

Jou just shrugged. Yugi wasn't a typical girl, but he knew better than to try and reason with someone from the female species when they had decided that something was hideous and they didn't want to wear it.

Anzu met them halfway to school, by which point Yugi was looking a little less like a tomato and more like a person again. Anzu spent most of the walk teaching Yugi tricks to make the uniform look a little more reasonable and between that and the reassurance flowing over the link from her older sister, the spirit who lived within her Millennium Puzzle, Yugi felt more ready to face her fellow students.

Amusingly she found that quite a few of the girls in her class were disappointed when she showed up in the female uniform. They had hoped that if Yugi had been allowed to wear the boy's uniform, they would be able to too.

" _That's probably,"_ Yugi thought as everyone settled at their desks when the teacher walked in, _"Why I have to wear the girl's uniform now."_

Anesan didn't respond verbally. Disappointingly the telepathic link, which had strengthened during the Shadow Game against Bakura to the point where they could exchange words as well as emotions, hadn't stayed that way. However the amusement and agreement Yugi sensed from her other self was almost as good.

Yugi mentally chuckled, for once not letting the fact that Anesan could hear her but she couldn't hear her other self, get to her. It was getting a little frustrating that after months of interaction between the pair of them, they still couldn't talk to each other properly. However it would come, the mental chatter between the pair of them during the RPG Shadow Game had reassured her of that.

School was just as boring as normal. Yugi tried her best to concentrate, trying not to slip back into her old habits. It had taken her months to get her grade point average up and allowing herself to slip would make all that work worthless.

When lunchtime came around, however, Yugi and her friends gathered around one desk and after chowing down on their lunch, they all pulled out their decks so Yugi could continue to teach the others how to play Duel Monsters.

"Oh no." Jou protested as Yugi moved to settle on the chair opposite him, "No offence Yuge, but I'd like a chance at winning for a change."

Yugi blinked at the tall, heavyset boy with messy blonde hair who looked as amused as he was frustrated. A couple of weeks ago she had finally taken her Grandfather up on his offer of helping her merge their decks and the Duel Monsters deck she now played with was as yet unmatched by anything her friends had managed to build from their booster pack finds.

Still she hadn't planned to use that deck. Well aware her friends didn't like playing against her deck, which had the Dark Magician and Ojiisan's precious Blue Eyes White Dragon within it, she had built a second deck, a 'training' deck that would be fairer to them.

"It's okay, Yugi." Anzu spoke up. The well built, leggy girl, whose shoulder length brunette hair was loose and kept getting in her eyes, smiled at Yugi, "I want to kick his butt again."

"It was a fluke." Jou protested. "There's no way you'll manage it again."

"What about the other six times?" Honda asked. Almost as tall and heavyset as Jou, Honda hadn't shown any talent in Duel Monsters despite Yugi's best efforts to teach him and the boy, whose brown hair somehow managed to come to a single point at the front of his head, seemed more content heckling Jou then playing the card game. "Because I'm sure those weren't flukes."

"Ah stow it, Honda." Jou grouched as Anzu and Yugi switched places.

Anzu was halfway through trouncing Jou when the last member of their little group returned to the classroom. The half English, half Japanese girl, who was taller than Anzu but not as well built and had long, white hair that reached halfway down her back, was relatively shy in comparison to the rest of the quite boisterous group. However after they had helped her with her darker self's habit of sealing the souls of her friends into game pieces, she had stuck with them, even if it meant she sometimes needed to escape their madness.

"Hi Bakura." Yugi grinned at her, "Anzu's winning again."

"It'll change." Jou grouched.

It didn't change and after his third successive butt kicking he gave up and shoved his deck at Yugi. "Okay, you're the Master at this. What am I doing wrong?"

Yugi quickly skimmed through his deck, her eyes widening as she took in the forty monster cards, some of which were pretty decent, but the complete and utter lack of any magic or trap cards. "Jou? Have you listened to anything I said?" She couldn't help but ask, handing him the deck back and frowning at him.

"Yeah," Jou looked offended, "I've stacked my deck with kickass monsters like you told me."

"I also said you needed you needed magic and trap cards to help your creatures out." Yugi resisted the urge to face palm, "There's no way a deck like this could ever beat a balanced one like Anzu's."

"See, this is why I need training." Jou grumbled.

"Look," Yugi sighed, "When we get home tonight I'll let you raid my spares and we'll go over your deck, okay?" She paused, "After the national finals. Kujaku might be out, but I want to see who wins out of Insector Haga and Dinosaur Ryuzaki."

She wanted to face palm as Jou started day dreaming at the mention of Kujaku's name. There weren't many women who played Duel Monsters on a competitive level and Yugi actually hoped to run into her one day because it was Kujaku Mai who had inspired her to start competing locally, even if she had missed the regionals this year.

"You could have beaten both of them with one hand tied behind your back." Anzu commented to Yugi, slapping Jou upside the head when she noticed his day dreaming, "And Kujaku too."

"Maybe." Yugi shrugged, not as confident in her skills as her friends were. "But when the regionals were on I was a little busy helping Ojiisan around the shop. It was just after Death-T after all. I couldn't really ditch Ojiisan to go compete. It wouldn't have been fair."

"You weren't playing games then anyway." Jou reminded her, "Too busy sulking."

"I wasn't sulking." Yugi protested, ignoring the curious look on Bakura's face.

"So what do you call not talking to anyone and not playing any games?" Jou continued to tease, "Because it sounds like sulking to me."

"It wasn't sulking." Yugi grumbled, able to sense Oneesan's amusement at the situation and trying to ignore it, "I thought that not playing games would protect you lot, remember?"

Silence fell for a moment as the group remembered all the near misses that had occurred in the last few months, all of them game related in some way, shape or form, before Anzu spoke up, "Is there room for all of us? I'd like to see the regional finals too and I can pay for take away."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Honda agreed, never turning down a free meal, even if he wasn't really interested in the finals. "And maybe we could play something that doesn't involve cards afterwards?"

"Street Fighter?" Jou suggested.

Anzu grimaced but Yugi didn't show her distaste. She wasn't a fan of the Street Fighter games. She had only gotten them so she had some more multiplayer video games in the house. However it was only fair if she was making Honda sit through the finals of a game he obviously had no interest in, to play something he wanted to afterwards.

"Eh, either that or that racing game," Honda nodded, "Gran Turismo."

That wasn't much better but again Yugi wasn't going to complain. Instead she made a mental note to try to throw the games that evening since even Jou's patience with her inability to lose was obviously becoming stretched before settling down to play a game with Bakura.

Bakura was almost as good at games as she was and even without magic, any game that got going between the pair of them was generally an impressive thing to watch. Yugi's friends had been wary of playing anything against Bakura to start with, but the spirit of the Ring hadn't been seen since the Monster World incident and Yugi refused to leave Bakura out for something that wasn't her fault.

Blaming Bakura for the actions of her other self would be like blaming her for Anesan's early actions. Once she had reminded the others of that little fact, they had stopped being quite so jumpy around the other item holder and started including her more.

Yugi and Bakura's game drew some attention, though people complained that the game wasn't as interesting without the holograms that went with the tournament matches. More interesting with holograms or not, it took Yugi long enough to win that the end of lunch had arrived, bringing the rest of the class back to the room and the teacher along with them.

The afternoon was just as dull as the morning and Yugi was mentally poked out of her daydreaming a couple of times by her elder sister. It didn't help that their teacher droned. His monotone guaranteed to send anyone to sleep if exposed to it for too long, almost like a magic spell.

When the bell finally went for the end of the day, Yugi was first out the door. She had followed the nationals all the way through so far and was looking forward to what should be an excellent finale to the three day duelling marathon.

Her friends caught up with her at the shoe lockers where she was fighting with one of her shoes, the tongue of which seemed determined to hide within her plimsoll.

"Geeze, Yuge." Jou chuckled, sneaking up on the girl and making her jump a mile, "Sorry, but anyone would think you're in the Nationals from the way you're acting."

"Sorry, sorry." Yugi grinned back, "I've just been looking forward to this. Duel Monsters was never televised before Kaiba's holograms came out and I want to see what they look like in 3d."

"I suppose I can understand that," Jou allowed as the rest of them changed their shoes, "So what's the big deal about Ryuzaki and Haga anyway?"

Yugi happily babbled away about the pair of finalists as they wandered back to the game shop. Haga favoured Insect monsters, while Ryuzaki had a preference for Dinosaurs, hence their nicknames and Yugi had pretty much mapped out their decks.

"I'm pretty sure," She was saying as they arrived at the front of the shop, only to find that it was already closed so Ojiisan could watch the finals with them, "That Insector Haga's going to win. Ryuzaki is too focused on offensive strength in his play style. Haga's going to steal the rug out from under him."

"Speaking of offensive strength," Jou postured earning himself an eye roll from Anzu and a small, amused smile from Yugi, "You said I could raid your spares."

"Let me get them out." Yugi chuckled, starting to head upstairs when her Grandfather imposed himself in the way, carrying a rather large box.

"You got a package." Ojiisan informed her, passing her the plain white box that had a video cassette embedded in it.

"I did?" Yugi blinked, surprised. She hadn't ordered anything and she wasn't expecting anything from anyone else, especially one with a video tape, so it was with great confusion and curiosity that she carried the box upstairs.

"So?" Jou asked, hovering around, trying to get a better look, "What is it?"

"Finals first," Yugi shook her head, putting it down on the table and going for her spares, "Package later."

"But Yuge..." Jou whined as he followed her to her room, hovering in the door as Yugi got the box from bottom drawer of the brand new desk she recently acquired.

"It could be nothing." Yugi pointed out as they returned to the front room where Anzu was taking takeaway orders, "You're getting worked up before you even know what it is."

The food arrived just as the match started. It was a well fought one but Yugi's prediction was accurate as Ryuzaki's beat down deck struggled to compensate for the tricks and traps of Haga's, leaving the dinosaur Duelist sulking in the dust.

Pegasus J. Crawford, the American man who had created the game of Duel Monsters, personally handed Haga the trophy and followed it up with an invitation to the new tournament that was coming up in just over a week's time that would be held at a place called Duelist Kingdom.

Once that little display was over and the last of the food have been devoured, Jou turned to the spares box and practically dove into it in his search for cards that could help his deck out.

It wasn't until after Bakura had gone home and Yugi had helped Jou sort his deck into a much more playable state while taking turns on the games that Honda put on the tv, that she remembered about the package that had been sitting on the side, ignored by the group.

"So?" Jou prodded her, having been looking forward to seeing what was in the package all evening. "You opening it or staring at it?"

"Give me a chance." Yugi chuckled as she pulled off the packing tape and opened the package, confusion crossing her features as she took in what was inside. "A glove?" She asked, pulling out the red glove with it's odd metal band around the wrist that had star shaped dents in. "Two golden stars," She tried to insert them into the divets and found they stayed in securely. "And the video tape..."

"Maybe the explanation's on the tape." Jou offered, examining the cassette, "Can you play it, Yuge?"

"Yup." Yugi took the tape from her friend and after getting Honda's okay to turn the TV over, she flipped over to the channel the video player was tuned into, inserting the tape as she did so.

The moment the tape started playing a Caucasian man, whose long, silvery purple hair covered one of his eyes, appeared on screen.

"Hello! At last we meet, Yugi-girl." The man on screen grinned, "Nice to meet you."

Yugi blinked, confusion obvious.

"Isn't that?" Jou asked, trailing off.

"The American who was just on TV." Yugi nodded, still shocked, "The guy who created Duel Monsters, Pegasus something..."

"No, no," The recording continued, "Don't be so surprised. I just wanted to send a video letter to the esteemed Yugi-girl. The _real_ World Champion."

So he had heard of her defeat of Kaiba, who was still officially World Champion of the game even if she had beaten him in a rather publicised Duel. Still she was still only an up and comer on the official tournament circuit, so she wasn't quite sure what he wanted.

"I understand you are very skilled at Duel Monsters." Pegasus continued, looking excited about something, "After all you defeated Kaiba-boy! Good job on that, by the way." Then he seemed to settle down, "Now, shall we get down to business, Yugi-girl?" He asked, a small, smug smile on his features, "I want to test your skill, right here and now! I challenge you to face this video recording of me at Duel Monsters!"

"What?" Yugi yelped.

"How can Yugi play against someone recorded on a tape?" Sugoroku complained, "Impossible! That's no challenge. He can't even know what cards Yugi plays!"

"All right?" Pegasus asked, oblivious to the comments, "There's a false bottom on the package I sent you, use the cards within to build your deck in front of the monitor. In five minutes our duel will begin."

Yugi didn't have to think about it very long, she opened the false bottom and found the cards he was talking about. There was enough for two or three decks and she made up her mind as she examined them. "Okay." She nodded, looking up at the screen, "I'll take on any challenge."

"You serious Yuge?" Jou asked, still trying to work out how this would work.

"Yeah," She nodded. Even if it was just a recording, the creator of the game was challenging _her_ , people dreamed of chances like this, "I'll do it."

She settled on the floor, picking and choosing the cards from the box as she assembled a forty card deck, "Okay," She spoke again at the four minute, thirty seven second mark, "My deck's ready."

Twenty three seconds later the tape asked, "Are you ready? Then let's go!"

"Duel!" Both Yugi and Pegasus spoke at the same time.

"Okay," Yugi started, "I'll start by summoning the Koumori Dragon, the devil dragon card, in attack mode!" She put it in front of the screen.

"Let me guess...the Koumori Dragon, right?" Pegasus asked.

"What?" Yugi yelped, staring at the screen, There had been over two hundred cards in that box and goodness only knew how many deck combinations, and he had just managed to guess her first card first time?

"This can't be!" Jou spoke up, his voice cutting through Yugi's shock, "How can he see the cards across the screen?"

"You see, Yugi-girl, I knew you were going to play that card. Why, I even know what's in your hand." Pegasus gloated, "You're planning to fuse your Koumori Dragon with your Dragon Champion next turn to increase your attack power. Am I wrong?"

No. No he wasn't. Yugi didn't understand how he knew what she had been planning, but somehow he knew. _"Is he reading my mind?"_

"Heh heh." Pegasus chuckled, "We can't have that, so I'll remove your Koumori Dragon from the field with my Dragon Capture Jar."

Pegasus held up the card and Yugi's dragon vanished into a pillar of smoke which somehow entered the television.

" _He just... my creature got sucked into the TV!"_ Yugi couldn't believe her eyes. This was impossible unless this wasn't just some pre recorded Duel. Dread coursed through her as she realised what she had just walked into without thinking, _"This isn't a normal Duel,"_ She thought, _"This is a Shadow Game."_

Oneesan seized control, glowering at the screen, having hoped to have a little longer before the next adversary came along, _'This isn't going to be easy.'_ She thought with a mental grimace, _'I'm fighting the man who made the game but how? How can a guy on a pre-recorded tape read my cards.'_

"I'll be the one to take you on." Oneesan spoke aloud, ignoring the surprised sounds from her friends and Ojiisan as they realised which Yugi was in control at this exact moment, "So don't mess with me."

"Aww, come on gloomy." Pegasus taunted, "Why do you look so angry? It's just a game, let's both enjoy it."

Oneesan bristled at his taunt, only to feel the mental equivalent of a hand on her shoulder, Imoto-chan stepping up to help her focus less on their frustrating opponent and more on how to get around his apparent ability to read her mind.

"Now, Yugi-girl, shall we move on with the game?" Pegasus continued to taunt, "It's your turn after all."

"Fine." Oneesan nodded, able to sense the magic flowing now she was paying attention and kicking herself for not being more careful as she drew the Baby Dragon out of her deck.

"Take your time and think it over, Yugi-girl." Pegasus spoke as she went to play the dragon, "Even your precious Blue Eyes White Dragon is powerless against this card." He tapped the Dragon Capture Jar on the table in front of him. "This is a rare new card that I just created. The game never stops evolving. There's always some new card you've got to have."

' _Because being able to create any card you needed at any time isn't cheating in the slightest.'_ Oneesan thought sarcastically. "Fine, then I'll take you on with..."

"Silver Fang, correct, Yugi-girl?" Pegasus finished before she could finish putting the card down, causing her to freeze in shock three quarters of the way though the motion. "You plan on playing Mystical Moon next turn to boost his strength by turning him savage."

' _He read me again!'_ Oneesan's thought was part shock, part frustration.

The wolf like creatures seemed to form out of a fog that rose from the card in front of Oneesan as Pegasus continued talking, "Beast Monsters hate fire, so this card should be enough, I summon Dragon Piper and use his effect to unseal the Dragon Capture Jar."

' _Giving him control over my Koumori Dragon, no doubt.'_

"That's right, Yugi-girl." Pegasus replied to her thought, causing Oneesan to let out a low growl as she realised it wasn't just her strategies he was reading. "The Piper's power gives me control over your Dragon." The spirit of the Puzzle had to fight not to recoil from the dragon head that emerged from the screen. "The Devil Dragon's fire destroys the wolf!" Pegasus cackled as Oneesan threw up an arm to shield herself from the heat of the attack, wincing against the flames as they narrowly missed her.

"Oh dear, Yugi-girl," Pegasus started taunting again as Oneesan's life points decreased, "I heard you were pretty good, but I know your strategies like the back of my hand! Must be a little jarring for you, huh? Get it, jarring? That's a joke."

"Take this!" Oneesan was in no mood for his lousy puns and even Imoto-chan's attempts to calm her didn't help as she snatched a card from her hand and played it without thought, "The water monster, Great White!" The huge shark appeared between her and the screen, its attack points higher than the dragons, allowing her to destroy it.

Pegasus countered with an electric monster which had less attack points than Oneesan's shark, but with the type advantage it wiped out Great White in a burst of electricity that lit up the room.

' _Why? Why does he know all my plans?'_ Oneesan glowered at her hand, though it wasn't the deck she was mad at.

"I understand your shock, but this is reality, Yugi-girl." Pegasus's tone was serious now, "You cannot defeat me."

She didn't want to admit it, but he had a point. If she couldn't stop his mind reading, then she had no chance of defeating him, no matter what she did.

"Yugi!"

"Yugi! Don't give up!"

Oneesan glanced over her shoulders and offered her friends a grateful and reassuring smile at their calls.

"Now," Pegasus continued, causing her to turn back to the screen, "I think it's about time to tell you the other reason I Challenged you. It wasn't just for fun." Oneesan had kind of guessed that when she had taken over. It was a lot of work to call up a Shadow Game when the person was in the same room as you, yet alone a different continent. It wasn't something someone did for fun either, so she had known he wanted something else, she just didn't know what. "Hear this, Yugi-girl, when you lose this game, you must take part in a tournament my company, Industrial Illusions, is holding! That event will determine the True Champion of Duel Monsters, the King of Games!" He paused, smirking slightly, "Or Queen, of course."

' _King of Games?'_ Oneesan wondered.

"To be honest I'd wanted Kaiba-boy to come too, but it's too bad. I hear he's not going to recover." Pegasus looked disappointed. For some reason Oneesan had no great urge to share the fact she knew Kaiba would recover, given enough time. Not with this creep. "Anyway, the one who becomes King or Queen will also win a large sum of money! And something even more valuable! Wait till you find out what it is!"

"What if I refuse?" Oneesan asked, "I have no interest in your tournament."

"Ah but you see, Yugi-girl, you can't refuse. Because you can't defeat me. There's no escape."

"Oh really?" Oneesan couldn't help but be amused, pride piqued now, "Well I haven't lost yet."

"Okay," Pegasus allowed, seeming amused by her inability to just surrender when the game was so obviously against her, "Then let's keep playing. That's the spirit Yugi-girl, I knew you'd say that."

"Let's go!" Oneesan called, drawing a card, thinking as she did so, _'There has to be a reason he can read my hand, what is it?'_ She glanced at her hand, _'I'll play this card...'_ She trailed off, considering the zombie card again. She had picked the card without thinking, relying on the sixth sense that normally guided her through games without fail, but a thought occurred to her.

"I play this card face down." She called before turning to the group watching, "You lot haven't seen the card I played, right?"

"Of course not," Jou shook his head, the others in agreement, "You're the only one who saw it."

"Okay," Oneesan nodded, "I want everyone to use their sixth sense to tell me what this card is."

"Uhh, Yuge?" Jou asked, "You do remember you're the one with the powers, right?"

"That doesn't matter." Oneesan shot back, "Just say whatever pops into your head."

"Well..." Ojiisan said slowly but thoughtfully, "I got the picture of a skull."

"I'm thinking of a cool warrior!" Jou smirked.

"Well actually," Anzu looked confused by the whole thing, "I thought the same as Ojiisan did. A skeleton."

"Me too." Honda agreed.

' _Ha!'_ Oneesan grinned, _'I was right! Three out of four guessed a zombie type monster. This isn't a coincidence.'_ She chuckled slightly, _'Now I get it, I know how he could 'see through my cards.'"_

Pegasus chuckled, "As amusing as this all is, it's my turn and while I hate to repeat myself, I know what card you've just played. An undead zombie monster."

"What?" The gang yelped, "He said the same thing we did!"

"I play the Rogue Doll! Her 'Holy Light of Shining Chaos' will obliterate all undead monsters. I win, Yugi-girl!"

"I knew it." Oneesan _'s_ chuckle surprised her friends, "He's inserted frames into the film. He's using subliminal messaging. Probably has been since I started building my deck, using the images he's hidden in the film to encourage me to pick the deck he _wanted_ me to build." She felt her other self's surprise and outrage at that and tried to soothe her little sister's mind. Imoto-chan hated cheaters as much as she did and the fact had been manipulated from the start was grating on the girl's nerves.

"This battle is mine!" Pegasus crowed, "I win Yugi-girl!"

"Is that so?" Oneesan chuckled, "The card I played face down was," She flipped it face up and the monster appeared before her, shielding her from the man on screen, "The Dark Magician!"

The Spellcaster monster blew away Pegasus's Rogue Doll but Pegasus didn't seem too worried.

"Heh, I also knew that it was about time for you to see through my trick." Pegasus chuckled, completely unbothered.

"Don't be a sore loser, you cheat." Oneesan scolded him.

"Ah but I knew you were going to do that." Pegasus corrected her, "I just took the hit to keep things fair. It was recorded on the tape after all."

So the subliminal messaging wasn't his only trick. Oneesan grimaced slightly, her delight in working out Pegasus's cheating subdued by the fact that Pegasus was still, somehow reading her mind and reading her hand turns in advance.

"Now comes the real Duel, Yugi-girl." Pegasus crowed.

"You want it, you got it, Pegasus!" Oneesan snapped back.

"However you are fighting a video of me and there's only so much film left on the tape, so let's add a time limit to this game." A timer with 15 minutes appeared in the top right corner of the screen, "The one whose life points are higher when the timer hits zero wins and, of course, a Penalty Game awaits the loser."

Oneesan grimaced. As if her situation hadn't been dangerous enough before... She could hear the slightly worried whispering of her friends as she started her move, her Dark Magician blowing away Pegasus's second monster, leaving the creator of Duel Monsters with just three hundred life points left.

"Oh no!" Pegasus moaned as his creature died.

"You're nothing, Pegasus!" Oneesan smirked at him, certain she could get around his tricks if she was careful. "Your life is running out!"

Pegasus drew out his turn, taking almost right up to the five minute turn time limit before he drew, a delighted chuckle escaping his lips, "Oh I can't believe it!" He laughed, "My next card is the Illusionist Faceless Mage!"

He played the monster which was much weaker than Oneesan's Dark Magician, in attack mode.

"But shouldn't O...Yuge's card be stronger?" Jou asked, "Doesn't that mean she wins?"

"Not necessarily." Ojiisan grimaced, "Strength isn't everything in this game. Every monster and magic user in the game belongs to a particular type and they're all stronger or weaker against other types."

"So even if they're stronger they can still lose, if they're the wrong type?" Anzu asked.

"Exactly." Ojiisan nodded, "That's what makes strategy so important in this game."

"I'm not done yet." Pegasus informed them, "I play the Illusion card, the Eye of Deception and combo attack the Dark Magician!"

The two spellcasters blasted each other but both were still standing when the smoke cleared.

The timer by this point had gone down to five minutes and Oneesan considered it carefully as she drew, deliberately not looking at the card for more than a brief glance, smirking when she saw it was the Celtic Guardian.

' _If I play defensively, I win when the timer runs out.'_ Oneesan thought, _'But that's the path of a coward.'_ She glowered at Pegasus, "I'll fight to the end! Celtic Guardian!" She summoned the monster, "Take out his mage!"

She was in for a shock as, to the sound of the Illusionist Faceless Mage's laughter, something struck the Celtic Guardian from behind, destroying Oneesan's creature and dropping her lifepoints to two hundred.

"Wha..." Oneesan watched, horrified and shocked as her Dark Magician moved to Pegasus's side of the field, the eye symbol on his chest. Pegasus's Eye of Deception had brainwashed the Dark Magician and caused it to betray her and now she was going to lose unless...

8...

"I pass my turn." Pegasus crowed, with just seconds left on the timer. "I win after all."

7...

"It's not over yet!" Oneesan snarled, drawing the Summoned Skull.

6...

"My demon trumps your Illusionist." She played the card.

5...

"Attack!"

4...

The demon appeared on the field and loosed an attack that launched through the television, cutting off as the timer hit zero, just millimetres from the Illusionist Faceless Mage.

The Duel was over. Oneesan had lost.

Fear trembled across the link from Yugi, echoing the dread in Oneesan's heart as Pegasus cackled. Yugi's friends sounded worried as they called her name but no one dared move. The threat of a Penalty Game was fresh in all their minds and none of them knew what was going to happen.

"My dear Yugi-girl, you have more talent than I expected, I predict we will meet again at Duelist Kingdom. By the rules of most trading card games, I could take one of your best cards and while your Blue Eyes or your Dark Magician are tempting prizes, I could make my own. So, Yugi-girl, I'm going to take something special to you instead. That way you won't try to escape me!"

Light erupted from the screen. Oneesan instinctively tried to shield her little sister from the spell Pegasus was casting as his voice echoed around the living room.

"Penalty Game!"

Then the light was gone, confusing Oneesan. She had expected Pegasus to do something to her for losing. Or worse, expected him to harm Imoto-chan in some way, but nothing seemed to have happened.

"Ojiisan!"

At Jou's cry, Oneesan wheeled around, turning to find her grandfather was on his back, barely breathing and staring through empty, blank eyes at the ceiling.

"Ojiisan!" Oneesan darted to his side, "Ojiisan! What's wrong!"

"And now!" Pegasus sounded amused, his voice drawing Oneesan' attention back, even as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. "The reason I can read your mind, Yugi-girl!" The CEO of Industrial Illusions pulled the hair away from his eye to reveal a golden eye in his left eye socket, an eye which had the same wadjet eye on as her Puzzle.

" _The Millennium Eye!"_ Pegasus's voice bounced around her mind, _"And it's Mind Scan! It gives me the power to see into the hearts of my opponents!"_

' _The Millennium Eye...'_ Oneesan couldn't help but stare, horrified at the item, something about it distressing her greatly, intensifying the emotions flooding her from both her own mind and her little sister's.

"Now," Pegasus spoke aloud, "Let's meet at my Kingdom. If you defeat me, you'll get your something special back." With that Pegasus's image faded out to be replaced by Ojiisan's, super imposed over a screen of white noise.

"Yugi!" He cried, pressing his hands against the screen, "Yugi!"

"Ojiisan!" Oneesan yelped, realising as she glanced between the screen and Ojiisan's body what had happened, especially when the tape ran out and Ojiisan's image vanished.

She had lost. Lost because she had been overconfident, unable to just wait for the clock to tick down and had walked into Pegasus's trap and Ojiisan had paid the price for it.

Pegasus had trapped his soul within the video tape.


	2. Picking Up the Gauntlet

Bakura paused as she stepped through the classroom door and looked over at her group of friends, who were gathered around a travel video player, chatting to the screen.

"Good morning?" She questioned, curious as Yugi looked up and nodded to her, then slumped back into her seat, while the others all gave her smiles that looked rather false. "What did my other self do now?" She asked as she moved over to the group.

"It wasn't her fault." She jumped a mile as the video player answered her, causing her to move around to see the screen. Yugi's grandfather was on it, waving merrily at her, "Good morning, Bakura-chan."

"G...Good morning, Mutou-san?" It was more a question and she glanced around at the others, noting Yugi had seemed to sink further into her chair. "Is he really...?"

"Yeah." Jou nodded, his tone angry and his movement sharp. "Some prick with a Millennium Item challenged Yuge, cheated all the way through and sealed Ojiisan's soul into the tape when she lost."

Bakura could feel her other self shift at the back of her mind at Jou's words and mentally grimaced. She was well aware of how close her other self had come to total victory just a couple of months ago. It was only the fact the she had sacrificed herself to halt the final blow that had saved her friends.

It had only been a miracle that had saved her life and the life of her Other Self, but they had been dead, at least temporarily, and while she was willing to do it again if she needed to, the spirit of the Ring had made it clear that she had no intention of dying again. Not for a long time at least.

This meant that, for the time being, Yugi's Puzzle was firmly off the radar. Any other Items however were still fair game and Bakura couldn't really bring herself to object considering that most other item holders seemed to be obnoxious prats.

"Can you get him out?" She asked, remembering how Yugi no Oneesan, the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle had seemed to have no difficulty in helping her free those trapped in the game pieces from her Monster World set.

"No." Yugi shook her head, seeming calm, though Bakura could see it was just a mask. She couldn't help but wonder if the others could see the dejection hidden underneath. "Anesan tried. We just ended up with a headache for our troubles."

' _Of course they did.'_ Bakura flinched as the voice of her other self echoed in her head, still not used to being able to hear the thoughts of the spirit of the Ring and mostly wishing she still couldn't, _'The Penalty was set_ against _them. They will have to fulfil the 'out' clause before they will be able to free him.'_

" _Could we do it?"_ Bakura asked the voice, startling them both. _"Could we free Yugi's Grandfather?"_

' _I don't know,'_ The voice replied after a moment of thought, sounding amused for some reason, _'And quite frankly I don't care to try. The Pharaoh got herself into this mess and she can get herself...'_

The Other Bakura paused, retuning into the conversation at the table in time to see Jou rolling his text book into a cone shape, pointing it at the Puzzle and yelling, "Hey Oneesan! If you can hear me in there, cheer up!" at the top of his lungs.

"Jonouchi!" Anzu shoved him away as Yugi tried to get some hearing back. "Seriously! I don't think that'll help."

It had a little though, Bakura could see, as Yugi smiled for a moment, some of the despondency lifting a little in the face of her friend's lunacy.

"Anyway, if you want to save Ojiisan, it looks like we have to get back at Pegasus." Jou frowned, turning serious again.

Yugi nodded, "That's what he said, 'come to my Kingdom.' He said that's where he's going to crown the King, or Queen, of Games."

"You said that Pegasus has a Millennium Item, didn't you?" Bakura asked, curious about what his item was like.

"He doesn't just have one." Jou replied, pointing at his eye, "He dug out his eye to put it in."

Bakura sensed amused recognition from her Other Self, causing her curiosity to grow. "I'm just curious about who made them, how do they work and what are they for," Bakura replied, "I bet Pegasus knows the answer."

With every word Yugi felt her elder sister grow even more uncomfortable with the topic. Something about the Millennium Eye had set something off in her mind and Bakura's words were only making the problem worse. Able to sense Anesan's need to get away from the conversation, Yugi pushed herself away from the table, standing as she did so.

"Yuge?" Jou asked, worried.

"I'm okay, I just..." Yugi trailed off, pausing to think about how she wanted to phrase it, "Anesan just needs some time alone. I'll be back before class starts. Look after Ojiisan?"

When Jou nodded Yugi shot out of the classroom. Bakura followed, or rather her Other Self did. The spirit of the Ring took over halfway to the door, unwilling to let the Millennium Puzzle or its holder wander off alone when there was someone after _her_ prize.

She followed the girl up to the roof, where Yugi propped open the fire door so she didn't get trapped up there and then switched out with the ancient spirit who had failed so badly.

The Pharaoh gripped the wire fencing around the edge of the roof, leaning her forehead against it, a frustrated snarl escaping the girl's throat before she practically screamed her anger to the heavens.

' _He wasn't lying. How can I win against an opponent who knows what cards I have and what I'm going to do, the moment I think of it?'_ Oneesan thought, last night's events playing through her mind, unable to understand why the Millennium Eye set her on edge so badly. The Ring had apparently belonged to the woman she had sacrificed herself to defeat, and yet it was the Eye that set her on edge more than any item she had faced to date.

It didn't help her mood that she could sense Imoto-chan's disgust at herself for walking into Pegasus's trap and her fear for her grandfather. That they would fail and he would remain trapped forever.

It was her fault. She had been the one to let pride dictate her actions and lost the Duel. They had had that Duel won, or she thought they had and she had thrown it away because she hadn't been able to just wait. If she hadn't been so determined to wipe out all of Pegasus's life points Ojiisan wouldn't be sealed away and Imoto-chan wouldn't be miserable.

The Shadows shifted behind her and she wheeled around, looking around the roof, trying to spot who or what it was.

"Bakura," She called, having some idea of what the problem was, "If you're up here I'm in no mood for your games."

The other Item Spirit stepped out of her hiding spot, a smirk on her features, "So you don't want to play with me? I'm offended." Oneesan just scowled at her, "Oh don't worry, it's much more fun to watch you drown in your own self loathing than it would be to put you out of your misery."

"Thanks." Oneesan huffed at her, "So is there a reason you followed me up here? Or are you just here to gloat?"

"Gloat, mostly." Bakura chuckled at the other spirit, unable to help but rub salt in the wound a little.

"What do you know about the Eye?" Oneesan didn't want to ask an enemy for advice. However the other spirit had been 'awake' much longer than she had, had dealt with the Millennium Items before and there was no one else she could turn to for information.

"You don't remember anything, do you?" Bakura asked, considering the spirit before her carefully, "I mean I was beginning to think you were having me on, but you really don't remember."

"Forget I asked." Oneesan hissed, turning around to look at the school grounds again as she did so, not in the mood to be made fun of, especially by Bakura.

Bakura considered the girl in front of her carefully. Part of her felt guilty for kicking the former Queen when she was down. Unlike her beast of a father, the only crime 'Oneesan' was guilty of was getting in Bakura's way. The sons inherited the sins of the Father after all, not the daughters. And in the past the spirit in front of her had tried to atone for her father's crimes. They had even been friends until everything had fallen apart beyond repair.

However the rest of her remembered the moment she had thought that the Pharaoh had betrayed her, the moment she had sold her soul to the demon that had been haunting her for a chance for revenge against the whole blood line.

A chance she had taken whole heartedly and without reservation, ruining Egypt and nearly killing her friend before the Pharaoh had managed to seal both of them away, apparently giving up her name and memories in the process.

"The Millennium Eyes gives its holder the power to see in the hearts of others and read their minds." Bakura answered her, moving to Oneesan's side, figuring that she at least owed her that much for making the dice roll that had saved her life. "It was held, originally, by your Uncle." She chuckled slightly at the shocked look Oneesan gave her, "And yes, he was an ass too, before you ask. Unfortunately it's one of the few items I haven't run into over the last three thousand years."

"So you don't know how to fight it either." Oneesan nodded her understanding, even as she sounded frustrated.

"Unfortunately not." Bakura agreed with her irritation. She needed all seven Millennium Items to fulfil her pact with the demon she had sold her soul to and not knowing how to obtain one was incredibly annoying.

Amusement flickered across Oneesan's features for a moment as she glanced at Bakura, "What, no plans to steal it?"

"Oh I plan on taking it. I just plan on being smart about it." Bakura shot back, "Some of us don't walk into Shadow Games by accident after all. I mean seriously, that's two now. You've gotten careless over the last three thousand years."

"It wasn't...me..." Oneesan trailed off. Technically it had been. Imoto-chan was half of her soul and it had been Imoto-chan who had gotten suckered into both traps. "Shut it."

Bakura just chuckled and headed for the fire exit that led back down into the building, "Just don't lose that Puzzle before I get a second shot at it. I've already claimed it as mine." With that she slipped through the fire door, letting it slam shut behind her.

Oneesan started cussing as she realised Bakura had just trapped her on the roof.

* * *

 

It was a couple of hours before Jou could get out of class and go looking for Yugi, by which time she had tried yanking on the door, shoving it, yelling, screaming, waving, jumping up and down and chucking things off the roof. She had finally given up worrying about anything and started cloud watching when none of it had worked.

Since Yugi hadn't been willing to get Bakura into trouble, she hadn't mentioned the fact she had been stuck on the roof and merely apologised for arriving late, earning herself an undeserved detention.

Jou wasn't home when she got there, having needed to pop back to his father's flat for something and the building felt empty and lifeless without her Grandfather there to greet her as she walked through the door. An envelope was attached to the entrance way and she carefully peeled off the tape, making a note to clean the sticky residue off of the glass and looked inside it.

There were three Duel Monster cards within.

All of them had the plain yellow section at the bottom that signified that they were plain, ordinary monster cards, except none of them were actual monsters. There was one with a picture of a pile of treasure, titled 'Glory of the King's Hand'. Another was a blank card with no picture, no blurb, no attack and no defence. Just a plain, normal monster card that was titled 'The Glory of the King's Opposite Hand.'

The last had the picture of a boat on with a date, time and location.

The invite for Duellist Kingdom had finally arrived.

She slipped inside, examining the three cards carefully. The blank one made her uneasy for some unknown reason. It was obvious what the 'Glory of the King's Hand' was about, the prize money that was on offer. And the boat one was the only way someone could know where they had to be and at what time.

But what did the 'Glory of the King's Opposite Hand' stand for?

She set up Ojiisan's tape in the portable tape player as she made herself dinner and the pair of them chatted and tried to work out a plan between them for handling Pegasus. Frustratingly it came to nothing. Neither of them could think of a way around Pegasus's mind reading. Not when Pegasus had been able to read their minds so easily, no matter who was in control of the body.

Their planning session was interrupted when Jou arrived back at the flat, running up the stairs and searching them out, obviously having run the whole way here as he was sweaty, out of breath and looking a little panicked.

"Jou?" Yugi asked, worried as he pulled a tape out of his bag, not saying anything as he gasped in air, waving it at Yugi.

"Don't...have tape player...at home." Jou panted, "Can I watch...here?"

Yugi hurried him through to the living room, grabbing the portable video player as she did so. She could show Jou the cards later, his tape seemed more important.

Jou had already inserted the tape by the time Yugi had finished grabbing a hot drink for her friend and as he hit play she was started to see a girl appear on screen with long, straight auburn hair and dull greenish brown eyes.

"Hi there Katsuya." The girl waved, "How's my Oniisan?"

"Shizuka..." Jou breathed, the name the only thing Yugi caught in her startled state. She hadn't known Jou had a little sister. Why hadn't he ever mentioned her?

"It's been a long time." Shizuka chuckled, "I'm sending you a video so you don't forget what I look like but," Her face grew more serious, "I wish I could see your face too." Jou's sister let out a sigh, "Actually I really wanted to see you in person instead of by video but you're so busy and we live so far apart... I just wanted to see your face one last time."

Yugi glanced at her friend, who had gone white at that announcement, panic etched in every fibre of his being. What did she mean? 'One last time?'

"Katsuya, don't tell Oto-san about this video." Shizuka begged, "And well... I guess that's all. Take care of yourself. Goodbye, Oniisan."

With that the recording stopped, leaving behind a screen of white noise and a pale faced, slumped, defeated looking Jonouchi.

"Jou?" Yugi asked, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder and sitting next to him.

"My parents split up six years ago." His voice trembled as he explained, needing Yugi's comfort to be able to tell the story, "Imoto-chan went with Okaasan. They live pretty far away. Too far for me to go on my wages." He took a deep, trembling breath and seemed to need to brace himself for what was next, "Imoto-chan's had problems with her eyes since she was born. The doctors say she'll go blind eventually."

Yugi's own horrified shock was echoed by her elder sister.

"When she said 'one last time,' that means the Docs told her the time has finally come." Jou continued, not looking up, "They say that with the most advanced medical treatment in the world there's a fifty percent chance they can do the surgery, but where can I get that kind of money?"

Yugi knew her Ojiisan. He would have offered the money to get him to his sister, but they couldn't afford to pay for the surgery. Not even on what they took in from the shop.

"I'm her Oniisan, but I can't do anything to help her! Not one thing! I'm useless!" Tears were was evident on his cheeks as they were in his voice now and Yugi moved around and hugged him tightly. She felt Jou stiffen up for a moment and then she was being smothered in a tight hug from a boy wracked with anguish and for once not ashamed to let the tears fall.

"Easy. It'll be okay..." She murmured when Jou finally pulled away, a thought occurring to her. There was a way for Jou to make a lot of money quickly. It was less than a week to the Duelist Kingdom and one of the prizes was a ridiculously large sum of money. He could use that to pay for Shizuka's operation.

Jou watched in confusion as Yugi switched with Oneesan, who picked a card and a star chip up off of the table, bringing them both in front of him. "O...Oneesan?"

"This is proof you're a Duelist." She explained, offering one him the star chip, "With it you'll be able to enter Duelist Kingdom. Let's go, together, to save Ojiisan and your Imoto-chan."

"But..." Jou paused as she showed him the 'Glory of the King's Hand' card, realising that in this, like almost everything else, Oneesan was being dead serious.

"The prize money, remember?" She smiled at him, "We have a week, I'm sure I can get you up to scratch by then."

"Y...Yeah." Jou nodded, enthusiasm beginning to kick in as he realised that he could at least try and do something, he wasn't stuck just waiting for the inevitable.

"And in the mean time," Ojiisan's voice piped up from the portable video player, "You're going to visit your sister."

"But..." Jou looked over at him, confused.

"I always keep some spare cash in the safe for emergencies." Ojiisan chuckled at him, "This counts. Yugi, you know the combination. There should be enough in there for you both to go if you want. Provided she's still in Japan."

"She is, but won't you need it for the shop?" Jou couldn't help but ask, worried considering that without Ojiisan to run it, the shop was temporarily closed which meant they weren't taking in any profits.

"Don't you worry about that." Ojiisan tutted at him, "We can afford to be closed for a week. How do you think we coped when we went on holiday?"

"Ojiisan, Yugi... thank you." Jou breathed, most of the tension leaving his frame.

"Just promise me you'll look after Yugi while you're at Duelist Kingdom." Ojiisan told him semi sternly.

"I promise." Jou nodded, determination taking over where hopelessness had been moment before.

"Good."

And that settled that. By the following afternoon Yugi had managed to get two reduced fare student tickets to the nearest station to where Shizuka now lived and since the following day was a half day, the pair of them went straight after school.

Yugi, who had refused to wear her uniform for longer than she had to, had packed a spare, tidy change of clothes and changed in the toilets. Then they had settled down at a table and Yugi started re-teaching Jou everything she could about the game.

With a playable deck Jou seemed to come on in leaps and bounds and by the time their six hour journey was over both Yugi and Oneesan were pleased with his progress. With five more days to go, they were pretty sure that Jou would stand a decent chance at the tournament. Even if he did have the bad habit of not thinking before he made his moves.

They got a taxi from the train station to the Kawai household and once there it took Jou ten minutes to build up the courage to knock on the door which astounded Yugi. He could and had faced down bullies, gang members, wielders of dark magic and demons and yet knocking on his sister's front door scared him?

She realised why when his mother, a woman who was just shorter than Jou, opened the door. She had shoulder length auburn hair and a piercing set of brown eyes and she didn't look happy to see her son at all.

"Okaasan." Jou bowed, "I'm here to see Shizuka."

"Oh." His mother replied, looking him up and down as if debating something before turning her gaze on Yugi. The girl couldn't help but feel like she was judging her as she asked, "And who's this?"

"Okaasan, this is Mutou Yugi," Jou replied, rising from the bow, his tone formal in a way it never was with Ojiisan or his teachers, gesturing to Yugi as he did so, "Yugi, this is Kawai Sakura. My Okaasan."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Yugi bowed deep, showing respect and suddenly realising why Jou had insisted that she came with him. The only thing keeping the door open for her friend was his mother's desire not to appear rude in front of a stranger and she needed to make a good impression if it was going to stay that way.

"This is Mutou Yugi?" Jou's mother sounded surprised, causing Yugi to straighten as Jou's mother nodded to her, "The one you mentioned in the last few cassettes?" Jou's reply nod was short and sharp, though Yugi couldn't help but wonder what cassettes she meant.

Jou's mother considered them a moment longer then seemed to make up her mind about something and stepped aside, allowing them entrance into the house.

Jou entered first, Yugi hurrying through behind him. Mrs Kawai shut the door behind them, moving around them as they took their shoes off so she could enter the house properly. "Shizuka!" She yelled up the stairs, "You have guests!"

"Who?" A girl's voice called down, soft and unsure, so unlike her brash brother's voice that it startled Yugi.

"Come down and find out."

Yugi watched as the girl from the video carefully made her way down the stairs, holding on to the banister on one side and the railing that had been attached to the wall on the other. It wasn't until she got halfway down that she seemed to be able to register who was stood in the hallway.

"Oniisan!" The delighted squeal was just enough warning for Jou to brace himself before a high speed auburn blur hit him, causing him to stagger back even as he wrapped his sister in a hug.

"Hi Imoto-chan." Yugi felt like she was intruding at the soft, concerned tone her friend emitted as he hugged his sister. "How are you?"

"I've missed you." Shizuka murmured in reply, not letting go.

"I know. I'm sorry." Jou apologised, releasing his sister, only to smile ruefully when he had to guide her to the living room, "I only just got the train fare together. I've been meaning to come for months."

"It doesn't matter. You're here now." Shizuka grinned at him, before pausing and squinting at Yugi, who had followed them without a word, able to sense her older sister's curiosity about the whole situation. "Who's your friend?"

At Jou's gesture, Yugi came forward and bowed, "I'm Mutou Yugi." She introduced herself, "I'm a friend of your brother's."

"You're the one whose Ojiisan runs a Game Shop, right?" Shizuka asked, sounding curious and yet delighted to meet her, "The one my brother's been talking about for months."

"He has?" Yugi's confusion seemed to delight Shizuka, who pulled Yugi to the sofa to sit down with her. Jou sat on the arm of the chair next to his sister as she started babbling at Yugi about how Jou had been sending her audio cassette letters for years and he'd mentioned Yugi and the others so much over the last couple of months that she had wanted to meet them before...

Shizuka had trailed off at that point and glanced at her brother before staring at the floor. She knew that he was trying to find a way to pay for her operation and didn't like reminding him of her illness.

He didn't react the way she had expected this time though. She had expected him to stomp off and go quiet, much the way he had before. That wasn't what happened. Instead he smiled slightly and mumbled something under his breath that she didn't catch.

"Katsuya?" She asked, moving closer.

"There's a tournament." Jou started explaining, "Yuge and I are going. The prize money is three million yen."

"Three..." Shizuka stared at him, "You're not serious?"

"Yup." Jou nodded, "Serious as they come."

"That's great!" Shizuka grinned, relief obvious for a moment, then she grew sad, not wanting to get her hopes up. "But you still have to win."

"Yuge," Jou gestured to Yugi, "Never loses. Not in a fair game. And I'm no slouch at games either. Between the pair of us we've totally got this in the bag and then I'll be able to pay for your op, Shizuka!"

"Katsuya..." Shizuka trailed off. She was used to her older brother's madcap money grabbing attempts. She didn't want to trash his enthusiasm, but at the same time she had learned a long time ago not to rely on anything that wasn't guaranteed.

"Mutou-chan?" The sound of Jou's mother calling her made Yugi jump a mile. She turned to face the woman who had been listening in. "Can I have a word please? While Katsuya catches up with his sister?"

Yugi nodded, wondering what she wanted. When Jou gave her a curious, 'do you want backup?' look, she shook her head and stood up, gesturing for him to take her seat as she did so.

She followed the woman one room over into the kitchen where the woman started making tea, shooing Yugi away when she tried to help. Yugi couldn't help but notice that everything had a place tidily away, so very different from her own kitchen where you could find everything eventually and it was all clean, but nothing was ever where it should be.

It wasn't until the kettle started boiling that Jou's mother turned back to her. "Right, Mutou-chan." She started, pausing after. Yugi got the distinct feeling that she was deciding on exactly how to phrase what she wanted to say next.

"Thank you for letting Jou in, Kawai-san." Yugi decided to fill the silence when it started getting too drawn out and her discomfort started making her Anesan think something was wrong.

"I must admit, Mutou-chan, if he hadn't come with you, I wouldn't have." Jou's mother leant back against the work surface, still watching her like she was a Puzzle to work out, "My son... how much do you know about Katsuya's past?"

"I know about the gangs." Yugi told her outright, not bringing up her certainty that he wouldn't have ended up working for Hirutani if his mother hadn't abandoned him to the dubious care of his drunkard of a father. "And I know he's out of them now. For good."

"Thanks to you." The woman's comment confused Yugi.

"No, he was already out when I met him." Yugi blinked at her, tilting her head slightly in her confused curiosity, unable to help but wonder how the woman had drawn that conclusion.

"Yes, but..." Jou's mother chuckled a little bitterly, "You see Mutou-chan, Katsuya's been sending Shizuka audio letters for years. She replays them, over and over again, so I get to hear everything on them." She explained, "And I've noticed a pattern in the last few months."

"Oh?" Yugi couldn't help but ask.

"Ever since he's been friends with you, the casual mentions of fights have stopped, he's mentioned his grades have improved to the point where he's actually passing class, he's got a part time job and he's...happier, you can hear it in his voice." Jou's mother hesitated for a moment, "Thank you for that."

"The grades are Anzu's fault." Yugi was embarrassed by the gratitude, "She's turned it into a game. It's helped all of us."

"Still, you and your Ojiisan have given him a stable roof over his head and given him a reason to stay on the straight and narrow." Kawai pursed her lips slightly, "Something that his father never managed."

Yugi refrained from mentioning that the woman hadn't supported her son either as she tried not to feel like Kawai-san was passing responsibility for her son off to someone else.

"I have to ask, though." The woman continued as she poured the boiling water into the teapot, "Is it wise to let him gets his hopes up over this tournament? It seems like a bad idea to rely on it so heavily."

Yugi winced slightly. She was well aware of everything that could go wrong. Both of them were relying on winning all of their matches and anything could go pear shaped between now and then. Just one defeat could make the difference between total victory and crushing despair. She wasn't sure how to explain the situation though, not to someone who didn't know about magic or the Millennium Items or any of it.

"He's not the only one who's got a lot riding on it." Yugi admitted finally, "Ojiisan's in hospital and..."

"You're going to some tournament?" Kawai-san interrupted, sounding disgusted.

"I have to." Yugi insisted, "Unless I win there's nothing I can do to help him. So I'm going."

"And with two of you going, you both stand more of a chance of winning the prize money." Jou mother thought she understood. "Which I'm assuming you're going to split."

"I'm only going to take as much as I need, it won't be very much." Yugi replied, not caring about the prize money in the slightest, not when her Grandfather's soul was at stake, "Jou can have the rest for Shizuka-chan's operation."

"That's too generous." The woman didn't look like she believed her, "Why would you give up that much money? What do you get out of it?"

Yugi had to soothe her elder sister's fraying temper as she realised the woman was implying she was going to hold it over Jou or force him into some unfair agreement.

"Isn't helping Ojiisan and Shizuka-chan enough?" Oneesan asked, taking over, a frown on her features and not appreciating the slight to her little sister. "Do I have to have some ulterior motive?"

"Everyone has ulterior motives." Jou's mother responded hotly, glowering back, "Especially when money's involved."

"Okaasan?" Serenity's voice from the doorway broke the staring match as Jou's mother looked away first, turning to her daughter. "Something wrong?"

"No, dear." Kawai-san shook her head, "But it's getting late and Katsuya and his friend have to be leaving soon."

"But you made tea." Shizuka protested, "I can smell it. Please don't make Katsuya leave yet."

"Shizuka..." Her mother was firm and Oneesan watched the girl shrink under her mother's gaze.

"It's okay, Imoto-chan." Jou moved into the doorway, having heard Oneesan's deeper tones. He had half expected his mother to have pissed off the spirit of the Puzzle, causing a Shadow Game and leaving him to explain to Shizuka why their mother was now a gibbering wreck, "I'll come over after Duelist Kingdom, okay? Once I have the prize money." Shizuka looked unhappy but nodded her acquiescence. "Yuge?" He looked over to Oneesan, "Shall we?"

Oneesan nodded, shooting one last dirty look at Jou's mother as she followed her friend out of the house.

"Well..." Jou sighed as they finished tying their shoes outside the front door.

Yugi took back over, looking a little hurt, "You don't think I want something from you in exchange for the prize money? Do you?"

"One of these days I'm going to end up slapping her." Jou grimaced as he guided Yugi away from the house, "No. You're not like that. If you were anyone else maybe, but no, I trust you."

"Good." Yugi looked a little happier at that.

"Now come on, we have more important things to worry about than my mother and her stupid ideas." He continued, looking around, "Like my training. I can't win that prize money if I suck at the game."

"You don't suck." Yugi jokingly scolded him with a tut that was rather reminiscent of Anzu, causing Jou to grin at her, "You just need practise."

"Well let's get a taxi, get on the train home and then," Jou took a breath as he grimaced at the thought of the train journey, "We'll have six hours to practise."

"Yes," Yugi winced, not looking forward to it, "Yes we will."


	3. Across the Ocean

"Well..." Yugi sighed as she zipped up her backpack and looked around her room for any last items she might have missed. "I think that's everything."

Her voice echoed around the room and no audible reply answered her, but reassurance bounced down the link and she felt ghostly hands on her shoulders, steadying her and easing the nervousness coursing through her.

"Anesan..." Yugi breathed, wishing that they could talk. She knew her older sister could hear her, and she could hear the spirit of the Puzzle's words whenever she wasn't in control of the body, but they still couldn't exchange words between them. Emotions and gestures, yes, but no words, and with less than twelve hours until they reached Duelist Kingdom, they needed to come up with some way of beating Pegasus.

There was still time to come up with a plan, but there wouldn't be for much longer. Yugi was couldn't and wouldn't retract her offer to Jou. He needed to go and needed the money, but she couldn't help but worry that if they failed, if they couldn't beat Pegasus, he would continue his rampage against those she cared about.

It didn't help that they just didn't know enough to be able to plan properly. Pegasus knew how to use the Millennium Eye's full powers and had already proved that he could use itsabilities to read their mind turns in advance. He would know their plans the moment they did, making the upcoming Duel unwinnable. Unless, of course, they could find a way to block his mind reading.

She felt the ghostly hands leave her shoulders and her elder sister's emotions retreat from her mind, guilt following her back into the Puzzle. Yugi winced, wishing she had been more careful about what she had been thinking. The spirit of the Puzzle felt horrible about letting her pride cost them the Duel against Pegasus in the first place. She didn't need Yugi dragging her down any further.

"Sorry." Yugi apologised to her other self, "I didn't mean... I know you didn't... we'll do this. I know we will." Silence echoed in her heart, causing her to let out a sigh as she looked around her room one last time, then scooped up her backpack.

"Hey." Jou grinned at her as she joined him in the living room. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Yugi nodded in response. "What about you?"

"Deck, side deck, keys, snacks... pretty much everything bar the kitchen sink," Jou chuckled, patting his backpack as a car horn sounded outside. "And I would have packed that too if I could have fitted it in. By the way, taxi's here."

The pair headed out and down, locking up behind themselves. The taxi driver didn't seem amused to see two teenagers heading for the docks. Yugi was sure he had hiked the price on their journey. However, it didn't take them long to get there, and the taxi driver got them there in plenty of time.

They weren't the only ones who were early. There were plenty of Duelistswaiting for the boat alongside them. Yugi recognised some of them. Near the front of the queue she could see Insector Haga and Dinosaur Ryuzaki bickering about something. Further back was Kaijiki Ryota, the ocean based Duelist who only really seemed to be interested in big tournaments where there were large amounts of prize money at stake.

The only other female Duelist there spotted her and left her place in the queue to come and talk to her. Jou, who had been babbling in his nervousness about getting caught out and sent away, went silent as the tall, well built and beautiful blonde young woman joined them.

"Mutou Yugi?" Kujaku asked, looking Yugi over.

"T...that's right." Yugi nodded, bowing quickly to the woman who had inspired her, currently short, professional Dueling career.

"My name's Kujaku Mai." Mai returned the bow briefly, ignoring Jou as he tried to introduce himself, "I was hoping you would be here."

"Oh?" Yugi asked, unable to help but be surprised as she hadn't thought Kujaku would even know who she was.

"When someone beats the World Champion, I make it my business to find out more about them." Mai chuckled at her. "Especially when it's a girl. Of course we're still in the minority, as you can see." Mai gestured around to the crowd, "But I've noticed there are more girls interested thanks to you. I'm almost jealous."

"You are?" Yugi asked, confused.

"I've been trying to get other women interested in the game for years." Mai nodded, "We're smarter than guys after all."

"Hey!" One of the male Duelists nearby who weren't entranced by Mai's appearance protested.

"I..."

"I look forward to seeing you in the finals, Yugi." Mai cut off what Yugi was going to say as the queue started moving, and shot towards the front of the line where a couple of guys moved to let her back into the place she had abandoned much more willingly than they would have done for anyone else.

Yugi started moving with the line, shaking her head in amusement when she realised Jou hadn't moved from where he'd been standing when Mai had left.

"Hey, Jou, Earth to Jou." She chuckled, waving a hand in his face, "Line's moving. Come on."

"Wha?" Jou did a double take and looked around, before sheepishly following her. They managed to get Jou through registration easily enough. Flashing the card she had given him was enough to manage that, and they joined the horde descending into the bowels of the ship.

They were led down to a massive common room that kind of looked like it had originally been a ballroom. The tables had been removed and giant, soft mats had laid down, along with a bunch of shelves, each one just big enough for a backpack or a bag or two.

The Duelists settled on the mats, gathering to do some last minute trading and settle their decks before the big event. Jou didn't take long to dive into trading. He and Yugi had worked on his deck but she couldn't begrudge him an attempt to get some cool cards. If she had had her spares on her she would have been doing much the same.

However, she only had her deck, and she had no interest in trading away anything from it or her side deck. Not when she and her grandfather had worked so hard to put them together. Besides, she knew what people would want from her deck, and she was loath to admit she was carrying it until she had to summon it in battle. Not because she was ashamed of it, but because it was her Grandfather's pride and joy and she could never trade it away. No matter the begging she knew would come her way the moment it was made public knowledge.

Instead she settled on a mat near the door. She had just started to sort through her things so she could bed down for the night when a nasally, slightly whiny voice made her jump.

"You're Yugi, aren't you?" Yugi turned towards the speaker, only to find the duelists she had watched on screen just over a week ago were watching the trade scramble with some amusement.

"That's right." Yugi nodded, getting to her feet, dusting herself slightly before asking, "You're Insector Haga, the Japanese Champion, right?" She bowed slightly before turning to the other boy. "And Dinosaur Ryuzaki?"

"I'll beat him next time," Ryuzaki answered, nodding as he did so.

**"** Yeah, right," Haga sniggered at him before turning his attention back to Yugi. "Of course, I can't consider myself the real Champion until I beat you and Kaiba. I was hoping he was going to be here..."

Yugi didn't respond to that. She didn't know how far along in his recovery Kaiba was. She hadn't even thought to see if she could find out. Thinking about it made her feel a little guilty.

"Oh, by the way, Yugi. I don't know if you've heard," Haga continued, giving Yugi something else to think about, "But they're introducing new rules at this tournament."

"Really?" Yugi frowned. She hadn't heard anything and she just hoped it wasn't something she was expected to know all about already. She couldn't bring herself to be surprised if Pegasus had left the extra rules out on purpose.

"It's supposed to bring more strategy into the ga..."

"Who cares?" Ryuzaki interrupted. "New rules or no, my dinosaurs will wipe the floor with everyone. It's kill or be killed out there."

The conversation died for a moment, in which time Mai could be heard complaining about not getting a room to herself.

"Heh," Ryuzaki chuckled to Yugi, "Only Haga and I get rooms to ourselves. The rest of you have to share. Although..." He hesitated for just a moment or two and then made his way over to Mai.

"Being in the common rooms might be an advantage," Haga commented as Ryuzaki convinced Mai to follow him to his private room. "You'll get to see what sorts of cards your opponents will be playing in advance, while we won't." The insect Duelist didn't seem as worried about that as Yugi might have expected, though, and he turned to go, saying, "Look forward to dueling you later."

By the time Jou was done trading, he had managed to pick up a few decent cards that would work well with his deck. Yugi traded her Time Wizard from her side deck with a spellcaster Jou had managed to acquire in order to give Jou's new Baby Dragon some extra fire power. Then the pair headed out onto the deck, where Jou herded her towards the back, near the crates of supplies.

Once there Yugi was both pleasantly surprised and a little worried to find that Anzu, Honda, and Bakura had all followed them onto the boat. Jou had known about the trio sneaking onto the boat, but had kept it from Yugi in case it had not worked. Each of them had brought a backpack with supplies with them at least, which was a relief. Someone had to have brought food with them, even if they were going to have to be sparing with it.

The five of them were just returning to the common room when Haga caught up with them, begging to see Yugi's Exodia cards. Yugi hesitated. She had learned her lesson about letting others get their hands on her rare cards. She hadn't forgotten Kaiba's attempt to rip her Grandfather's Blue Eyes card in two. If she hadn't somehow managed to summon the card to her hand, it would have been ruined.

"Yugi!" Mai's voice broke through her train of thought. The blonde hesitated for a moment when she saw the large group, but then she came over. "Move, bug breath," She grouched at Haga. "I doubt she wants to talk to a cheat."

"You're just a sore loser." Haga sniggered at her.

"Sore loser? You stole cards from my deck!" Mai snapped at him.

"You couldn't prove it," Haga pointed out. "You were just guessing."

"Whatever, this time you're not going to stand a chance," Mai snarked at him before glancing around at Yugi's entourage. "I'm just borrowing her. You can have her back later," Mai informed them and then dragged Yugi off to a relatively large room with two parts to it: the 'living' part, with a table, sofas and a drinks fridge, and the sleeping part, with a double bed and a bedside table. "Right, now we can talk properly, away from all the bother."

"They're not a bother. They're my friends." Yugi tried to defend them. Mai wasn't too interested, though.

"They're extra weight." Mai shrugged. "I didn't want to talk about them, though. Tea?" she asked as she indicated the sofa.

"Umm, thanks." Yugi nodded, taking a seat and watching as Mai flicked the kettle on. "What was it you wanted to talk about then?" she asked, her curiosity mingling with Oneesan's as she took her cup of tea and Mai joined her on the couch.

"I thought you might need some advice, from one Competitor to another," Mai replied easily, "It is your first time at a big tournament after all." She paused and added another sugar to her tea. "And us girls have to stick together." She took a sip of her tea before putting it on the table, "Have you settled your deck? Can I see?"

Yugi hesitated again, loath to give up the deck. On the one hand it was Mai and she was a fan of the older woman. On the other she would soon be competing against her and she didn't think it was a good idea to reveal her cards this early. Not to mention the rare card issues she had worried about with Haga. "I don't think it's a good idea…"

"Smart girl." Mai chuckled at her **.** "Never reveal your hand in advance. I do want to know one thing,though. Do you have Exodia in your deck?"

"Why?" Yugi prevaricated, trying to hide the fact she was, in fact , planning on running Exodia while on the island.

"Because," Mai chuckled **,** amused by Yugi's obviousness. "I was wondering if you'd really thought about it. I know you had insane luck against Kaiba, but something you've got to remember is that no one managed to summon it before you and the likelihood of you managing it again isn't very high. You'd be better off putting Exodia in your side deck, or even taking it out entirely and swapping in five cards that could boost your deck. You'd get more use out of them and they wouldn't clog up your draws. You don't want to get backed into a corner with only a handful of Exodia pieces to bail you out."

Yugi opened her mouth to reply and then closed it again. Mai had a point. Exodia was a risky gamble. It took up five of her forty cards, relied on all five being drawn out and Mai was right. It had saved her life against Kaiba, but Pegasus would know the moment she drew the first piece, so she couldn't rely on it doing the same against the creator of Duel Monsters.

"Thanks," Yugi said instead, considering her deck as she nodded, thinking. Her train of thoughts derailed slightly as she felt Oneesan poke her. She mentally 'stepped back' allowing her older sister to take the reins. The spirit of the Puzzle frowned slightly at the clash of smells that assaulted her nose when she took control, smells her little sister had dismissed as just Mai's perfume collection, but she didn't say anything about it. Instead she asked, "So what was it you wanted from me?"

Mai pretended to look offended, though she looked more amused than anything. "Am I that obvious?" sheasked with a small, shrewd smile.

"Not really." Oneesan shook her head, with an amused chuckle, "But I figured you wouldn't be offering me advice unless there was something in it for you."

"I want a duel." Mai shrugged, "Not for any prizes, just a simple game. I want to test your skills and show you how the game's really played at this level. Your little fan club isn't exactly a good test of how far you're going to go, after all. They probably wouldn't last a single round in a real duel"

"Jou is a great Duelist." Oneesan defended her friend, though she couldn't help but feel Mai was right about Anzu. "And Bakura would be good if she played more often."

"And how much did you have to teach them before they got that good?" Mai pointed out, her amused smirk widening when she saw Oneesan grimace slightly. The spirit of the Puzzle remembered the amount of time she and Imoto-chan had poured into making sure Jou was ready for Duelist Kingdom. "One round. I won't tell anyone else what's in your deck as long as you do the same for me."

"That seems fair." Oneesan nodded, looking forward to a real challenge. She meant no offence to Jou, but she knew almost every card in his deck and had taught him everything he knew about the game. While her little sister was happy to play her friends over and over again, Oneesan was quite frankly bored. It was why, secretly, she was looking forward to this tournament, even with everything riding on it.

Mai shuffled her deck, letting Oneesan cut it, before doing the same for the deck the spirit of the Puzzle had shuffled. "Everyone at this tournament will have a trick or talent, something that puts them above the regular hacks," Mai explained. She sat back and put her deck in place.

"Oh?" Oneesan asked, wondering if being an ancient Pharaoh with, to quote Jou, 'mad gaming skills' counted as a 'trick' or 'talent.' "What's yours?"

"I'm psychic," Mai answered easily as she reached for the deck. "I know what I'm going to draw before I draw it. I'm about to draw Harpie Lady, by the way." She drew and showed Oneesan the card, revealing her to be correct.

Oneesan's eyes narrowed as she considered the trick, drawing her own first hand as she did so. Somehow she didn't think what Mai was doing was a psychic talent, unless Mai had a very specifically focused form of future sight. Still, she had a good hand,and as she played out her first move, she was just glad that Mai couldn't read her mind. One opponent that could see her moves in advance was more than enough for her.

"One card face down," Oneesan informed Mai, "And a card in defence mode." She laid the cards on the table, trying to work out how Mai had known what her cards were going to be in advance. "Your move."

Mai closed her eyes, drawing from the deck slowly, nostrils flaring as she did so. Oneesan caught the whiff of perfume, the mess of scents changing slightly as she did so, and she realised what was up. "You've marked your cards," thePharaoh grumbled, disliking cheats as much as her little sister and having hoped Mai would have played with more honour than that.

"There's not a single mark on them." Mai shook her head in response, "It's just raw psychic talent."

"If you're going to use perfume-marked cards," Oneesan continued, irritated and able to sense her little sister's disappointment, "you shouldn't use them in such close quarters. I can smell them."

"Oh…" Mai paused, looking a bit put out to have been caught already.

"Look, I'm not going to tell anyone." Oneesan sighed, unhappy with the situation and only not Challenging Mai because it would have been a horrendous overreaction when Mai hadn't done anything to hurt them. "But I doubt anyone else will be so lenient. Do you really need to cheat to win?"

"No," Mai allowed. "But it throws off the morons wonderfully. Everyone plays mind games at this level of competition. I'm not the only one." She paused and considered Yugi properly, "So what do you want? Because I can't change my deck now. All my spares are back on the mainland and I'm not dropping out."

"I'm not asking you to." Oneesan shrugged, "Just don't pull the psychic act on me or Jou. You can't control the way your deck plays out, not unless you trim your cards or stack your deck, so you've only got a slight advantage in knowing what you're going to pull next."

"You really just want me to play a straight match?" Mai looked surprised, "That's it?"

"That's it." Oneesan nodded, "Now, shall we finish up?" she asked **,** gesturing to the game in progress.

"Sure." Mai's shock turned to an amused smirk. "You're going down."

* * *

 

It was about an hour before Yugi rejoined them, by which point her friends were beginning to get antsy. When she finally made it back to the common room, her friends pounced on her, demanding details. True to Oneesan's words, Yugi didn't mention Mai's cheating, only that she needed to a make a couple of edits to her deck because she'd tested it against Mai. While she had won, it had been a much closer game than it should have been.

Mai had been right about the Exodia cards. While they had been an asset in the duel against Kaiba, there had been other cards in her side deck that would have been much more useful against Mai and would, most likely, be just as useful against any upcoming opponents. By the time she had finally resettled her deck, most of the other duelists had bedded down for the night. Yugi followed suit after slipping her fifteen card side deck back into the golden box the Puzzle had come in and putting her backpack back on the shelves.

While her friends dropped off quite quickly, lulled to sleep by the rocking of the boat as it headed towards their destination, Yugi just couldn't get to sleep. Her mind wouldn't stop going over the task they were facing. There was just so much that could go wrong. She still didn't have a plan for facing Pegasus, and it frightened her. She felt mired down by all the thoughts and fear crashing around her mind, and she was almost certain she wouldn't get any sleep. Then she felt Oneesan give her the mental equivalent of a hug and she felt reassurance wash over the link before her world started fading out as she felt herself drifting off.

She let out a soft chuckle as she realised that her older sister was helping her get to sleep, much as she had the night before Kaiba's insane amusement park. It wasn't something the spirit of the Puzzle needed to do often. Normally she hit the hay and that was that. Tonight, however, she welcomed her sister's interference and she just about managed to mumble out a quiet "thank you" before she slipped into a dreamless sleep.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long. She came round again to the sound of someone rummaging through the nearest bags. She sat up and looked around blearily, trying to work out who was going through what.

The figure by the bags was obscured by the darkness, though she could see it was short, probably around her height, if not a little shorter, had a bowl cut and glasses and was rummaging rapidly. That wasn't what caught her attention though. The bag he was going through was hers!

"Hey!" She yelped, scrambling to her feet, disturbing Jou in the process. The figure, still carrying the golden box she was keeping her side deck in, bolted. Yugi gave chase, waking several others as she did so. Oneesan slipped into control during the pursuit, loosing a bolt of Shadow magic which would have stopped the brat in his tracks if he hadn't dodged down a corridor, causing her to miss.

"Damn it," The spirit hissed, darting down the corridor herself, only to find the thief had vanished down one of the many side corridors. "Where are you?" she growled, listening carefully to see if she could hear the brat's footsteps. It took a moment, but she heard the echoing of footsteps pounding away from her location.

She shot after them, finally catching up with the thief as he cornered himself by darting up a dead-end. He was still trying to open the locked doors as Oneesan caught up to him, the Shadows eager to answer her call and deal with the thief for her.

The spirit of the Puzzle felt her little sister's shock as Oneesan beheld the thief, looking him over properly and realising that the brat who had stolen her cards and her box was in fact Insector Haga.

"Give me back the box,Haga," Oneesan demanded, holding her hand out for it.

The insect duelist was smart enough to realise he was in trouble. He shook his head and backed up.

"I would suggest you give me my box back, right now." Oneesan's tone turned vicious as she stepped forward, the Puzzle starting to glow, causing him to move back again, letting out a frightened whimper as his back hit the wall.

In a move Oneesan didn't expect, Haga threw the box lid at her and darted around her, scattering cards as he tried to flee. Oneesan let the Shadows loose, trapping Haga in a Shadow Game before he could escape from the corridor.

It took Haga three attempts to run out of the Shadow Game, causing him to pass her just as many times, before he realised he wasn't going anywhere. Oneesan took the time to pick up the cards he had dropped, noting that the Exodia cards her little sister had removed from the deck weren't with the box, which Haga had discarded on his second pass.

When Haga finally gave up, he stared at her with wild eyes as he panted for breath. Oneesan noted, dispassionately, that he was horrendously out of shape if that tiny little run was enough to have him exhausted.

"Are you quite done?" she asked, irritated.

"What did you do!?" Haga demanded, fear driving him to anger. "And where are we?" he asked, gesturing around at the dark surroundings, the corridor hidden from view by the swirling Shadows that had answered her call in a heartbeat.

"You stole my cards," Oneesan stated, "And for that, I have every right to Challenge you."

"Challenge?" Haga tried to get clarification. "You want to Duel me?"

"I don't duel vermin," Oneesan snapped at him. "Let alone worthless insects who have to steal and skulk around in order to ensure victory. I know you still have my Exodia cards."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Haga's right hand went into his pocket and Oneesan's glare deepened. "If we're not Dueling, what do you mean by Challenge?"

Oneesan could feel Yugi 'stepping away,' shutting the door between her mind and Oneesan's **,** and it felt odd. She understood why her little sister would do it. She knew that Imoto-chan still didn't entirely approve of the dark games she could call as easily as she drew breath. However, she also knew that the Puzzle's owner would let her Challenge someone if she believed it was truly necessary. In this case she was certain it was.

"All you have to do is win a simple game," Oneesan explained, the pieces appearing from the darkness as if teleporting in or being created out of thin air. "If I win, you have to hand over your Star Chips and my Exodia cards. You win, you get to keep my cards and my Star Chips." She gained a vindictive smirk, "Of course, if you cheat, the Penalty will be worse than anything you can imagine."

Haga ignored the warning. He was certain that this was all a trick or something. There was no way Yugi could have called up some other realm. These had to be holograms or something. There was no way this was all real. Still, he had to admit he was impressed by the realism of the 'game' she had set up.

"It's really easy," Oneesan continued, chucking him one of the dice that had appeared in her hand as the pieces finished setting up. "We each roll a die and for each number we get one piece of the sculpture. The one who completes theirs first wins."

"That's it?" Haga looked shocked. "All I have to do to kick you out of the tournament is win a game of luck?"

"If you're not up to it..." Oneesan let the sentence trail off, taunting him.

Haga pushed his glasses up his nose, irritated and yet intrigued at the same time. "I don't think you know who you're dealing with. You're on."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sculpture will be described in more detail next chapter but let's just say I'm basing the game off of this www . ebay . co . uk/itm/VINTAGE-STYLE-BUILD-A-BEETLE-GAME-FAMILY-FUN-GREAT-GIFT-/110982789821 which I played as a kid. It just seemed fitting for the match with Haga.


	4. Game On

"Stupid bimbo," Haga grumbled as he rolled the dice and failed, yet again, to get the right number. His last seven rolls had been the same.

Glancing over at Yugi only irritated him further. She seemed to be having all the luck. Once again she was fitting a piece of her statue into place, the second bulbous eye slipping into place easily, leaving just two legs left to insert into the antlike carapace.

He was sure she had to be cheating, that her calm facade was a mask, hiding a smug smirk as she fiddled her rolls in order to cheat him out of victory. No one's luck was as good as she was trying to make out hers was.

She glanced over at him, waiting for him to take his turn so she could cheat and put one of the last legs in. He just knew it. Anger bubbled away inside him as he picked his die up. She had no right to test him, to judge him.

Yes, she was technically World Champion at _his_ game, but that was only down to sheer dumb luck. She would never have defeated Kaiba if it had not been for the fact she had drawn Exodia out of her deck. Now the cards were his. If he couldn't have them, no one could. Especially not some jumped up rookie duelist. They were wasted on her.

"Finally," He grouched as he rolled a one, allowing him to add a leg to his almost limbless statue, anger roiling away under the surface as Yugi turned away to take her own turn.

He considered his options. He was not going to win. That much was becoming obvious. She would have to have an insanely bad run of luck to lose now. She was just too far ahead.

But there was something he could do to stop her winning. Their statues and the parts that went with them were colour coded, his green and hers purple. If he stole one of her leg pieces, she couldn't finish her statue.

He picked up one of the purple legs, grimacing as he tried to work out how such a wimpy looking girl could lift such heavy parts with such ease. He didn't think to wonder why the purple leg felt like it weighed a ton as he staggered over to his statue and slid the leg into place.

Out of nowhere a wind started up, pushing him away from the now mismatched statue, making him stumble backwards and trip over one of the eye pieces belonging to his statue, hitting the floor with a yelp.

"Well, that was predictable." Yugi scowled at him as he rubbed his rear, moving away from her statue and stalking towards him, darkness flaring up around her like flames. "Though I did expect it would happen earlier."

Haga's smart-alec comment died in his throat as he stared up at her. This wasn't the Yugi he had talked to earlier. The innocent looking girl with wide, purple eyes from earlier was gone. Instead this was a vengeful teenager with sharp red eyes and a scowl, who seemed to control the darkness around them like it was an extension of her.

"You cheated, Haga," She informed him. "And for that you will pay."

"I...I..." Haga stammered, his hand slipping into the pocket where he had stowed the Exodia cards, "He...Here!" He offered them. "You can have them..."

"It's a little late for that, Haga," she snapped at him, glowering. "If you had played by the rules, that would have been enough. Now, however..."

Haga started trembling, fear and anger mingling, as he pulled his hand back and stared up at her. The flames that surrounded her were as cold as ice and as they licked around his feet he could feel his toes going numb.

She was a sorceress, there was no other explanation for it. That was how she had been cheating. She had been using her magic to rig the game!

Anger overtook him as the chill continued up his legs and he realised that he had never stood a chance. That she was standingthere, looking down on him, judging him.

How dare she? How dare she?!

Well, he could get one last shot in before she cast whatever horrible spell she was planning to cast.

"You think you're so great," Haga snarled, getting to his feet. "You're just like everyone else, a lying, cheating cow." He glowered at her. "You think you're above everyone else? Just because you can make people see things and create things from nothing?" His expression shifted, to one of a vicious smirk. "Well say goodbye to Exodia."

He had just enough time to tear the stack of cards in half before the Shadows swarmed him.

* * *

"Yuge?" Jou asked, worried, as Oneesan stalked into the room, pieces of cardboard in one hand, dueling glove in the other, golden box poking out of her jacket pocket. He didn't think he had ever seen the spirit of the Puzzle stay this angry after a Challenge. There were times that had come close, but Oneesan's rage normally burned out pretty quickly, taking the magic with it. At the moment, however, he could just glimpse the darkness still swirling around her frame and from the looks on the faces of the others, they could, too. "You alright?"

"Yes, but he won't be," Oneesan snapped, slumping onto the mat and shoving the duelling glove at him. "Here. That insect won't be needing it anymore."

"Insect?" Jou examined the glove, noting that there was already a star chip inserted in it as Anzu quietly asked, "You don't mean Haga?"

"Someone's going to notice if you've driven Haga nuts," Honda hissed at Oneesan, glancing around and glad that almost everyone had gone back to sleep even as he wished Bakura's Challenge had not opened his eyes to the magic loose in the world around him. Seeing the Shadows cling to 'Yugi's' frame was creepy. "Can you fix him?"

"He cheated." Oneesan shrugged, causing Anzu and Honda to wince, while Bakura let out a resigned sigh. They knew the dangers of cheating during a Challenge. Haga wouldn't be getting up any time soon. "Besides," Yugi's other self continued. "He deserved everything he got."

"What did he do?" Anzu asked, frowning.

Oneesan's response was to reveal the pieces of cardboard. Jou swore loudly enough to wake some of the other duelists as he realised what they were.

"He ripped up Exodia?!" Anzu yelped.

"Now you see why I'm quite so ticked?" the ancient ex-Pharaoh asked as she put the pieces away in the box forher spares.

"Why didn't you just...you know, what you did with Blue Eyes?" Honda was confused, "I mean Kaiba was gonna rip it up and..."

"I'm not sure how 'I' did it last time." Oneesan smiled slightly as she noted the look on the faces of the others when she emphasised the 'I,' "You thought I," she pointed to herself, "did that?"

"Well...yeah." Honda nodded. "I mean, you're the one with the magic, not her."

"The Puzzle belongs to Yugi, not her." Bakura spoke up, watching Oneesan carefully, causing the spirit to wonder if it was Amane or the spirit of her Millennium Ring in control of the body. "And it's the source of the magic."

Oneesan couldn't help but be amused when Jou, Honda and Anzu all turned to her for confirmation, "It's true." She nodded. "I'd like to teach her more about how to control it so she could use the Puzzle properly, but she's...I suppose the best way to term it would be that she's 'allergic' to the Shadows. Her soul is too light for her to be able to handle them for any length of time. Little things like rescuing Blue Eyes is nothing, but anything more..." She shrugged, "and I'm pretty much making it up as I go along as it is. I'd be a pretty lousy teacher anyway."

"That's certainly not changed over the last three thousand years." Oneesan's eyes narrowed as she glanced over at the spirit of the Ring, whose deeper voice and slightly glowing Ring had made her arrival obvious, "You were a pretty lousy teacher back then, too."

"And how would you know?" She shot back.

"This may come as a shock to you, your highness," Bakura said the last as a slur. "but you invited me to join your lessons."

"What?" Oneesan blinked at her, mostly hiding her shock.

Frustratingly Bakura didn't seem to want to divulge any more information, retreating to the Ring and leaving her 'landlord' in control as her friends digested this new information, both about her and about Imoto-chan.

Her little sister's frustration and embarrassment came through clear as Oneesan tried to work out if Bakura had been messing with her or whether she had been telling the truth, making the long deceased Pharaoh mentally cringe. She had forgotten Imoto-chan had been hiding the fact it wasn't just Shadi's spell that would affect her that badly. It had just been the best way to explain why her other self lacked the magic that she could wield so easily.

She 'stepped back,' taking the Shadows with her as she retreated to the Puzzle, leaving her little sister in control and trying not to wonder if she had just revealed a weakness to an enemy. Yugi waited nervously as she watched her friends work through what they had been told, wondering what their responses would be.

"Only you, Yuge," Jou said finally, looking at her with a half amused, half resigned expression, "could be allergic to your own magic."

Yugi didn't really have a response to that. There wasn't really much she could say. Shadi had proved to her just how feeble she was when it came to dealing with the Shadows and though she was determined that, once she could talk to Oneesan, it was something she was going to work on, right now there wasn't much she could do about it.

"The other Bakura said she and Oneesan used to be friends, right?" Anzu asked, thinking about the Monster World Challenge and when the spirit of the Ring had been gloating at the spirit of the Puzzle. When Yugi nodded at her, she continued, "So maybe she did teach her. They had to have met somewhere."

"Shame they're not friends now." Jou snorted. "We wouldn't have had to go through that RPG if they were."

"Are you gonna let Oneesan handle Pegasus?" Honda asked her, able to see Bakura looked uncomfortable and changing the subject.

"I don't know," Yugi admitted as she started rearranging her spot on the mat so she could get comfortable and try and get some more sleep. She still didn't have a plan but she knew that if Oneesan needed her help, 'allergic' to the Shadows or not, she would help. It was the least she could do after she had walked headfirst into Pegasus's trap.

"If he's using Shadow magic and it makes you sick..." Anzu worried at her.

"As long as I'm working with Oneesan, she can shield me and the Shadows don't bother me," Yugi reassured her friends, noting the way they relaxed at that news and leaving off the 'as much.'

"That's good." Jou nodded, flopping back onto the mat and staring at the ceiling. "So what are we saying happened to Haga?"

"They can't exactly bust Yugi for something their boss has been doing," Honda pointed out. "So maybe we should keep quiet and get some sleep?"

The idea was a sound one but none of them could drop back off. They finally gave up around sunrise, snatching up their bags and heading up onto the deck, watching the waves go by and an island loom large on the horizon.

"There it is, Yuge," Jou murmured, the duelling glove on his right hand seeming to get heavier the closer they got to the island and the more he thought about what was at stake. "You ready?"

Yugi felt like saying no. She didn't feel ready. She had no real plan, bar win her way to the top and beat Pegasus, she had no clue how to combat Pegasus's Millennium Eye and she honestly wasn't sure they were ready to duel in the major leagues, but there was no time and no choice. It was sink or swim time. She had to be ready. So she nodded instead.

It was the right choice as she saw Jou's confidence grow at that, as if her being ready was enough for him to feel ready. Maybe it was. She had always felt more at ease and able to do anything when she had her friends with her. Maybe, right now, he needed the same thing. She wasn't the only one with family at risk here after all.

"Hey, one good thing came out of Haga being a thieving prick at least." Jou seemed to realise as they thought about what was to come and the duels they would have to fight. He held up his glove to show the others the two golden stars embedded in the wristband of it. "We're starting at the same point as everyone else."

"Of course, Yugi should totally take her Star Chips back now," Honda teased Jou. "Save you wasting them later."

"Hey!" Jou snarled at him, giving his friend his best death glare. "I'm ready for this! More than ready!"

"Will you two behave?" Anzu sighed at the pair of them before they could start brawling. "If you fall in the ocean we're not dragging you two back out again."

"Bah." Jou huffed, backing off but still glaring at Honda. "Zero respect."

Yugi just smiled and shook her head at their antics, spirits lifted a little by the normalcy of it.

"Hey, Yugi?" Bakura asked, leaning against the railing next to her. "He doesn't know I'm coming, does he?"

"I hope not," Yugi offered, glancing at her friend and frowning slightly before turning to watch the sun rising over the water. "Or he'll be after your Ring next."

"He can have it." Bakura snorted, still peeved with the spirit of her Ring for trying to kill her friends or trap them in game pieces. "But maybe I could be an ace up the sleeve or something. Cover you if you need it, or help the others get away if it goes bad."

Yugi blinked at her. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful for the offer, she just hadn't expected it. She wasn't sure why she hadn't, Bakura was as much her friend as any of the others, even if she was linked to someone who wanted to kill her. Still she hadn't expected her to offer her help so readily.

"I know you can't trust the spirit of the Ring." Bakura's hand went to the Ring. "But I want to help and I doubt she'll let some big headed, obnoxious American steal 'her' treasure, so I don't think she'll stop me."

Yugi could quite easily see her friend being right. Though they had gotten off to a rocky start, the spirit of the Ring seemed to have settled down a lot since the Monster World Challenge. However the other Bakura had sworn that the Puzzle would belong to her eventually, even if she had to wait for it.

Yugi knew the spirit of the Ring was a dangerous adversary, but she was mostly convinced that her recent actions were all part of a plan to rile up Oneesan. The other item spirit seemed to enjoy annoying Yugi's older sister, especially by dropping hints about their shared past but refusing to share details. Because of this, she was pretty sure that the other Bakura would help them if they needed it, if only to ensure that she got her prize at the end of the day and she still had someone to wind up.

"You know," Jou commented as he watched the other Duellists begin to emerge onto the deck, catching the first few rays of sunlight on what was promising to be a nice morning. "We could just aim Bakura no Oneesan at Pegasus and watch the fireworks."

"Please don't call her that." Bakura winced, "She's not related to me and calling her the 'Other Bakura' is bad enough."

"Sorry," Jou answered sheepishly. "But I don't know what else to call her."

_'Like it or not, Landlord, my name IS Ba-Khu-Ra.'_ Bakura flinched as her Other's voice echoed around her head, _'Do you expect him to remember how to pronounce it properly?'_

_"Can't you use something else?"_ Bakura asked.

_'You have a given name. Try using that instead of your surname.'_ The spirit huffed at her. _'I have been using my name for three thousand years; I'm not changing it just to suit you.'_

Amane had no idea how to respond to that, so she didn't even bother trying. She knew she could have gone by her first name, but it was the principle of the matter. The announcement coming from the nearby speakers, informing them that breakfast was served sufficiently distracted her from the name problem anyway and she followed the others back into the depths of the ship.

They tried to ignore the rumours flying around over the fold out breakfast tables that had been put up in the time that they had been up on deck, though it wasn't easy when several people mentioned the fact that Insector Haga had been rushed to the ship's infirmary and probably wouldn't be able to compete.

The more charitable of those amongst the Duelists on board wished him a speedy recovery, while those whom he had annoyed over the years were just glad to have one less opponent standing between them and the prize money.

Luckily, though some people had been heard grumbling that they wished he'd gotten sick before he'd gotten on board and worrying about the chances of catching whatever he had, no one seemed to connect the thief who had been rummaging through bags last night with Haga, and no one asked Yugi any awkward questions that she couldn't answer.

It didn't take them very long to get through a decent breakfast, though they had to poke Yugi, who didn't feel particularly hungry due to nerves, into eating what was on her plate. By the time they had finished, however, the boat had docked and it was time to disembark.

Jou passed by the mooks greeting the Duelists off of the boat without any trouble. Their gloves signaled that they were Duelists after all. As far as the guards were aware, Jou was meant to be there. Honda, however, nearly got himself and Anzu caught as his nervousness, unaided by the not particularly concealed weapons on each of the guards, made his movements stiff and jerky. Luckily, the guards mistook his nervousness at getting caught for nerves about the tournament and let them go by.

Jou couldn't help but tease him as they headed for the castle where the tournament was supposedly due to start. Oneesan, who had taken control of the body in advance, wasn't really listening to it. She was more interested in their surroundings. The island seemed completely deserted bar them and the men hired by Pegasus.

It was a very pretty island, she couldn't deny that and from what little she could see it looked like it had most of the different types of 'fields' that Duel Monsters often took advantage of available. Not that she knew what the importance of that was yet, but she figured it was probably something to note for later.

The castle they were supposed to be heading for was at the top of the mountain and unfortunately for the Duelists there was no lift available to take them up. Instead they had to climb the rather long staircase until they reached the top.

Jou wasn't the only one that moaned when the castle doors didn't open for them when they reached the top. There were several others who were just as vocal as he was, including Dinosaur Ryuuzaki. They soon shut up when Pegasus himself stepped out onto the balcony above them.

"Welcome one and all, to Duelist Kingdom!" Pegasus announced, a bright smile on his face, the same one he'd had when he had tricked Imoto-chan into taking part in his Shadow Game.

"Pegasus, that dirty, cheating son of a...ow!" Jou glared at Anzu who cut him off by stamping on his foot.

Oneesan smirked slightly at their antics even as a part of her wanted to use her magic to drag Pegasus down here and destroy him, despite the crowd around him.

"Let me explain the rules of this special, special tournament!" Pegasus continued, seemingly oblivious to the grumbling going on below him, though he did smirk at Oneesan when he saw she had fallen into his trap. "The Duels will take place with officially licensed Duel Monsters cards. I hope you all brought your most powerful decks!"

Several Duelists looked worried at that. Most of the others had done some trading the night before to get their decks settled as best they could and accepted that there was very little else they could do to improve their chances at this point of the game.

"Each of you should have a Duel Glove and two Star Chips. If you haven't already, please place your glove on your left hand. On your gauntlet you'll find ten spaces where you can insert Star Chips. Please insert your two Star Chips now."

Oneesan couldn't help but feel smug that her little sister had already worked that out as she glanced at the glove already sitting on her left hand and the glittering golden stars held safely within the metal band around her wrist.

"These Star Chips are your life as a Duelist," Pegasus continued, holding one of them up. It glinted like the star it was supposed to represent in the morning sunlight. "Every time you duel, you must wager one or more Star Chips on the outcome."

"Thank Kami we're both starting with two then," Jou murmured, his voice quiet enough for only Oneesan and the others in their group to catch what he was saying.

"The Duels will take place, 'Battle Royale' style all around the island using the new Kaiba Corp Duel Boxes." Pegasus continued, "Only the first Duelists to win ten Star Chips will be allowed to enter the castle. They and only they will have the chance to win the 'honours' mentioned on the cards I sent you."

_'Duel Boxes around the island?'_ Oneesan considered as she tried to remember what Haga had been saying to Imoto-chan the night before, when he'd been trying to make friends with her. He had probably been planning to steal the Exodia cards when her little sister had shown them to him. Oneesan half suspected that they would have gone overboard if her other self had asked for them back, though that might have been preferable to getting ripped in two, if Imoto-chan could call cards to her, like she had with the Blue Eyes that now rested in their deck. _'This has to be something to do with the new rules Haga was talking about. Probably to do with the terrains too. Looks like we'll be playing a more advanced version than we're used to. This should be fun.'_

She couldn't help the excitement that the thought caused. Though she knew what was at stake for her and her friends, this tournament would be a true test of her gaming prowess and she looked forward to the challenge.

"The Dueling begins in one hour," Pegasus called down to them. "And the time limit is forty-eight hours. Anyone without ten Star Chips by that time will be disqualified and will be deported from the island with the rest of the losers. Only the very best, the one to win their way into the castle and defeat every last opponent will be named the King," Pegasus smirked at Oneesan who glowered back as he continued. "Or Queen of Games! Now Duelists, good luck and let the games begin!"


	5. Talons

"How, exactly, did you get us lost in a forest the size of a postage stamp?" Anzu demanded of Jou and Honda, interrupting what had been a rather interesting and extremely loud argument.

"It wasn't me," Jou protested, gesturing towards Honda, "He was the one who said, 'It's this way, follow me' if we'd just stuck to the path we'd probably be neck deep in Duellists by…"

"Don't blame me!" Honda snarled back, cutting Jou off mid sentence, "You're the one who thought that this was a shortcut to the battlefield!"

"Will you two shut up?" Oneesan growled at the pair of them, ill amused by their arguing and the fact the fireworks signalling the start of the tournament had gone off at least ten minutes ago. She had been tempted to let the boys head off into the forest alone, but the there was little chance of them finding each other again when Anzu was the only one with a mobile phone and even it had no signal. So she had followed them when Jou had jumped the wall and headed into the forest.

Honda and Jou went silent. Neither of them were foolish enough to continue their tirade when the spirit of the Puzzle had demanded otherwise. She was their friend, but they both knew she had her limits and that it was a bad idea to push them. Not only would it make her mad and put her off her game, but she was vindictive and creative in her payback. She would never hurt them, that much was true, but Jou's reputation had taken weeks to recover after the incident in the boy's changing room the day Imori had been causing trouble, not to mention what she had done in response to Jou getting her little sister sick.

Anzu could not help but but smile. If it had been her who had asked them to stop fighting, they would have done so, but only after she had physically separated the pair. Poor Yugi would have been ignored entirely. For Oneesan however, they went silent and behaved like little angels. She needed to learn the long-dead Pharaoh's trick.

"If it helps," Bakura spoke up, holding her hand up now that she could be heard over the others and trying to ignore the amusement of the spirit who lived within her own artefact. "My Millennium Ring can locate people and places. I could probably lead us out of here."

"Why didn't you say that earlier?" Jou complained, wheeling on her as she pulled the Millennium Ring out from under her sweater.

"Probably because it was impossible to hear yourself think over the racket you two were making." Anzu shot back, "I swear they could hear the pair of you back in Domino."

Oneesan rolled her eyes as the boys started protesting that loudly, more interested in what Bakura was doing as the Ring's angular points started glowing and pointing in the opposite direction to the way they had been headed. "Thought so." She sighed, "Let's go."

Bakura nodded and started heading in the direction the Millennium Item was guiding them. Anzu and Oneesan followed, the spirit of the Puzzle becoming amused when neither Jou or Honda noticed that they were being left behind until the girls were nearly out of sight. Then they were treated to the amusing sights and sounds of the boys falling over themselves to catch up, literally in Jou's case as he tripped over a tree root and tumbled to the ground and landed at Oneesan's feet.

"Honestly, I didn't think you'd expect people to kiss your feet nowadays, Pharaoh." The spirit in question startled and frowned at the spirit of the Ring, who was smirking at her. "I mean I never did, but you had more than enough nobles who would do it for you back in Egypt. I'm surprised you want your friends to do it now."

"I don't. Also shut up." Oneesan grumbled back at the Thief Queen. She knew the other item spirit was trying to wind her up, it was something Bakura was good at. It really did not help that Oneesan was fully aware that the other teenager knew more about her past than she was willing to talk about.

When Bakura smirked at her, she huffed and stalked off ahead, sure of the direction she was supposed to be heading in thanks to the blasted thief. The resignation she could feel from her little sister did not help her mood. She knew she was supposed to be getting on with the other spirit, if only because their hosts were friends and enjoyed their gaming evenings. They tried, they did. For the sake of their sisters and because Ba-Khu-Ra did not want her 'landlord' committing suicide for a second time to stop her from once again trying to kill Yugi. That did not mean they were particularly good at doing so and Yugi had gotten used to Bakura winding Oneesan up and them ending up leaving early.

She emerged from the trees to find a glass duel box like the one she had used to fight Kaiba at Death-T in the middle of a clearing. It was deactivated and empty, with no one around. Oneesan wasn't entirely complaining. While she needed to start winning more star chips and soon, the empty box was a good opportunity. She entered the duel box to check out the holo-recognition table inside and tried not to be too smug when she realized that she had called it on why they had been dragged all the way out here for a competition.

The table had a map on it, this one part forest and part meadow. Ojiisan had told them that as of the boosters that had come out the day term had started, every monster in the game got a bonus on their type of terrain. A boost that was provided by 'Field Spell Cards.' The Island that Duel Kingdom was on had almost every field type going. She was pretty sure that there would even be somewhere on the island dark enough to count towards the 'Yami' field spell.

There was a soft beep and the door slammed shut behind her, making her mentally jump. When she wheeled around to look at it, the opposite door slammed shut too, trapping her within the glass duelling cube. She let out a frustrated sound and pounded on the glass door, trying to break it open. When that failed, she barged it. It would not budge, the lock holding firm against the slight weight of her Imoto-chan's physical form.

"What the..." She demanded, trying not to let Imoto-chan sense her panic as the walls went black, cutting any view of the outside and dropping the box into total darkness. She was terrified of the dark. Even now almost five months since her precious little light-souled sister had released her from her long imprisonment, she could not stand being in the dark and any semblance of calm started to flee as she realised that even her magic could not get the automated lock to unjam.

She felt Imoto-chan reach out mentally to soothe her panic and take over the body, trying to support her, only for a sudden, loud voice to startle them both.

"Yugi-girl!" Her panic fled, replaced by fury as she wheeled around to gaze at the holographic version of Pegasus that had appeared on the other side of the box.

"Let me out Pegasus!" She demanded, her hands balling into fists and her powers itching to be used on the arrogant American businessman despite the fact he was not actually here in the box with her.

"Now, now, Yugi-girl, you and I have some things to discuss, don't we?" He asked, the smile on his face and laugh in his tone not matching the determined look in his one real eye.

"What do you want now?" Oneesan forced herself to calm down enough to have a civil conversation, not wanting Imoto-chan to take control of the body to talk with him instead, hologram or no hologram.

"You've cheated already, Yugi-girl." Pegasus tutted at her, "Making an opponent insane before the games begin is against the rules."

He knew. Of course he knew. She had not vanished Haga after all, he had ended up in the ship's infirmary. However, "Duellist Kingdom hadn't started AND he stole my cards and ripped them up, the Penalty was justified." She snapped back, refusing to accept that she had been in the wrong when Haga had gone after her first.

"Oh I would agree, Yugi-girl, except that his duelling glove and Star Chips are missing." Pegasus did not look amused now. "Which means you took them before the games had begun."

"Haga wagered them, just as I put mine and the Exodia cards on the line. The wager was fair and the Shadows didn't object." Oneesan protested, realising he seemed determined to punish her for her actions last night and determined to try and prevent him taking any more souls, "Then he cheated and earned a Penalty. You didn't tell me we weren't supposed to wager them before the tournament began. It's not fair for me earn a Penalty for something I didn't know was against the rules."

"I'm certain that I shouldn't have to tell you that Yugi-girl." Pegasus huffed, "I'm assuming that you partly did it to make up for the fact you gave one of your Star Chips to that young man you invited to join you, Jonouchi Katsuya?"

"Don't you dare touch him!" Her voice turned low and dangerous, her hands clenching tightly enough that she felt the nails bite into her palms.

"Oh don't worry dear, I'm not going to disqualify him. I'm curious what you find so special about him. He must be very important to you for you to risk your Grandfather's soul on one Star Chip." The laughter in his tone was back, "No, I have a much better Penalty for your cheating in mind. After all, I know what you fear more, after my last little jaunt through your mind..."

"You have no right to put a Penalty on me. I didn't cheat Pegasus, the Shadows wouldn't have let me make the wager if I had been cheating." Oneesan bit out as she threw up shields around Imoto-chan's mind to protect her from whatever he might try. She could not trust that he could not use his magic through this holographic form when he had managed to do so through a video tape.

"You did, Yugi-girl, no matter how much you might deny it and you're going to stay here, in the dark, until after your little friend has started his first competitive duel." The former Pharaoh's mind stalled at that, fear flickering across her features at the thought of being trapped in the dark for any length of time. Pegasus mistook it for fear for her friend and chuckled, "Oh don't worry, Yugi-girl. If he gets himself disqualified by the time you catch up to him, he'll be allowed to return to the ship, ready to head back to the mainland, along with all your other friends and if he wins, well he gets to continue competing. Either way you'll be released. No harm, no foul, am I right? After all, how good of a Duellist could he be if he needs you to hold his hand all the time?"

With that the hologram vanished, taking the only light source with it and plunging the Duel Box into complete darkness.

* * *

"Man, I can't believe we're out of that forest." Jou grinned as he emerged out of the forest into a huge meadow. "That felt like it took forever!" He paused as he saw Honda, Anzu and Bakura, who was hastily hiding her Millennium Ring back underneath her jumper. "Wait, where's Yuge?"

"She's not here already?" Anzu looked around, worried. There were plenty of Duellists battling away in the Duel Boxes spread across the meadow, but Yugi could not be seen amongst them, or among those watching the matches.

"I'll go and find her." Amane reassured them, "You'd better get started Jou. You can't both wait to start duelling, you'll end up out the tournament because someone else got to the finals first."

"But..." He hesitated, glancing back into the wood. He knew Amane was right, but Yugi was his best friend and Oneesan was just as important to him. If they were lost, as their friend it was his job to go and find them.

The debate was broken up by a loud, amused cackling going on from one of the Duel Boxes nearby, where Kujaku Mai was emerging, gloating loudly at her opponent.

"B...but you must have cheated!" The young teen was stammering, "You knew what cards you were going to draw!"

"Stop whining you baby." Mai gloated, "If you can't handle my ESP then you shouldn't have challenged me, now give me the Star Chips and..." She paused when she saw them and accepted the golden stars without further gloating, ignoring the fact her opponent was crying as he headed for the docks in her haste to come over. "Jonouchi Katsuya, right?" She asked, looking him over.

"Yeah and you're Kujaku Mai, we met on the boat." Jou nodded, wondering what she wanted.

She nodded before looking around, "Where's Yugi?"

"Not sure." Jou could not help but be insulted at the way she brushed him off, "We got split up in the woods."

"Oh really?" Mai's look went from a few seconds of concern to a small, smug smile as she turned back to Jou, "Well, why don't you duel me while you're waiting?"

"Seriously?" The blonde blinked, surprised she would want to duel against him.

"Why not? Yugi told me you were pretty good, so, why don't we duel? Two Star Chips?" She offered, holding up her glove and showing that she had four already so she could pay the wager.

"Don't even think about it, Jonouchi." Honda snapped at him, "You only have two."

"Yeah, and I can't get more if I'm not willing to risk them." Jou bit back, though he glanced towards the forest, still concerned about Yugi's location.

"She's a big girl, Jonouchi." Mai chuckled, "What's the matter? Can't handle the thought of playing without her to coach you?"

"No! I'll duel you. Pick a box." She smirked as he took the bait. He was a novice, no matter how much Yugi had taught him and without his friend there to give him hints and tips she did not think he would stand a chance against her.

"Sure." She sashayed across to the same Duel Box she had used before, well aware that it was mostly set up to give her monsters a field bonus. If he was going to be foolish enough to let her pick the box, there was no way she would not take advantage. He would have done exactly the same.

"Bakura...can you look for Yuge for me?" Jou asked the white haired girl, his gaze following the tall, leggy blonde to the Box. "Preferably without letting your other self take a pot shot at her?"

"I'll try?" Amane offered, not entirely certain how successful she was going to be but aware there was a weird kind of truce between the Spirit of the Ring and the Spirit of the Puzzle for now. "Don't lose?"

"Ha. With everything Yuge's taught me she's not going to know what hit her." Jou smirked, posing. Honda and Anzu rolled their eyes but Amane just laughed and shooed him away, able to hear Anzu and Honda questioning if this was really such a great idea.

 _'Landlord, let me take over.'_ Amane stiffened up as her Other's voice echoed around her mind. _'If the runt's gone missing, it could be Pegasus's fault and I can control the Ring better than you.'_

 _'Her name is Yugi.'_ She reminded her other self, _'And you're not allowed to Challenge her.'_

 _'I know, I know.'_ The voice sounded annoyed at that, _'You made that clear when you killed yourself to stop my attack. Now get out of my way so I can go search for her royal pain in the ass.'_

Amane dropped out of control, giving the Thief Queen the reins. Bakura scowled as she turned back towards the forest and pulled the Ring back out. There was no way that the brat should have gotten herself lost if the Pharaoh had just continued in the direction that they had been going. The only things she could think of were that she had either gone in the wrong direction after she had stalked off or someone had deliberately distracted her.

Either way she was going to get scolded when Bakura found her. She raised the main body of the Ring so it was horizontal and level with her chest, "Find Mutou Yugi."

The points started glowing and then floated off to the left a little. Thinking back to the route that they had taken, Bakura could see how the Pharaoh would have headed off in that direction. The ground had not been even and if she had not set herself back right after she had scrambled up one of the three ditches they had crossed she could have ended up anywhere. Knowing her she had run into a Duellist and gotten caught up in a game.

She glanced back at the duel, which was just starting, then smirked slightly. There was a plus side to this whole mess. If the Pharaoh was this easy to separate from her friends, then when her Landlord did let her go after Yugi, she would know how to split the girl off from the trio of tagalongs.

"Now, little Yugi," She mused as she headed into the forest, "Where the hell have you gone?"

* * *

The darkness was oppressive and weighed on her heavily as she went back to trying to get the door open. She had not cheated. Haga's Penalty had been fair. The Shadows would not have let her implement it if it had not been. That meant Pegasus was the one cheating. By keeping her here, Pegasus was deliberately trying to interfere in her chances to progress to the castle.

She was pretty sure she knew what he was up to. He had seen her fear of the dark when he had read her mind before. Combine that with the fact he knew he could hurt her by going through her family and friends and this would have been a pretty effective Penalty if it had been justified. The confinement in the dark would have her on edge. Then, if they were not there to support Jou during his first real duel here on the island, he would be mad at them, no matter the excuse. Especially if he lost. If Jou got mad at them, Imoto-chan would be upset. In turn that would make her feel guilty for stalking off ahead and getting herself caught up in this stupid trap.

It was all to do with mind games and no matter how much the darkness felt like it was dragging her down, no matter how much she could feel her hands shaking, she could not let it get to her. She had to stay strong.

She could feel reassurance tumbling down the link from her little sister, taking the edge off the never ending fear of the dark, born of three thousand years of confinement and pain. It helped her stay calm but left her a little embarrassed. She was supposed to be the big sister. The stronger, more confident one. A little thing like a pitch black box with little room to move, no way to hear anything outside and no exits...

The train of thought derailed as she felt Imoto-chan trying to snatch control away, the link flooded with worry and reassurance and she realised she was beginning to hyperventilate. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself and mentally pushed back, not wanting her little sister think she was too weak to handle Pegasus's trap. She felt her sister back off, though the concern kept pulsing over the soul bond as she felt the dark wall behind her, trying to find the door to see if she could force it open.

"I...It's fine...Imoto-chan..." Oneesan spoke, the echo of her voice as it bounced around the far too silent cube making her tremble slightly and making the fear start rising again, "I just need to figure out how to get out and I'll be fine."

* * *

Jou was not entirely pleased about being dragged into a Duel while his friend was missing but as he drew his first hand, he knew he had to try and remember everything she had taught him. Shizuka was relying on him winning the tournament and winning the prize money after all. He could not let her down.

"You know, Jonouchi," Mai said as she drew, a smug look on her face as she checked her cards, "That you're massively out of your depth here, right?"

"Say what?" He looked up from his cards and scowled when he saw the look she was giving him.

"You don't have your mentor to guide you, you've never been in a Proper duel against a Real Duellist before and you clearly have no idea of the new rules or you wouldn't have let me pick the duelling field...now, ladies first." Her Harpie's Lady took to the field, the Duel Box projecting the barely clad bird-woman on the opposing side of the field. "I summon my Harpie Lady, in attack mode. She's going to cut you right down to size, Jonouchi."

"I have a question, Mai." He glanced at her as he drew, watching a small box with Harpie Lady's attack and defence points appear and the stats climb, glancing at the field and grimacing as he realised he had let her pick a Duel Box with a Mountain section to the field on the table. He remembered Yugi's lessons well enough to remember the field card rules from the new Booster packs. "Why do you duel?"

"Why?" Mai blinked at him, "What a stupid question."

"Then you won't mind answering." The boy retorted as he considered the cards in his hand and summoned his monster, Tiger Axe, who gained a boost from the Sogen, or meadow section of the field, causing his Attack points to match the Harpie Lady.

"Well it's simple, I use the prize money to keep me living the good life. Clothes, jewellery, travel, I love it all!" Mai sniggered, just waiting for him to end his turn and wondering why he had summoned a monster that was weaker than hers, in attack mode, meaning next turn she could take his life points.

"Is that all?" He sounded disappointed in her, much to her surprise, "You duel for such selfish reasons as that? Then I don't feel guilty about doing this! Tiger Axe! Attack!"

The Beast-Warrior monster launched itself at the bird-woman, taking a slash at the screeching harpie. She flapped her wings and took off, easily avoiding the blade before taking a swipe at the warrior with her talons, destroying the Warrior monster below and decreasing Jou's life points by 390, the amount it's attack points had increased.

"My Harpies have the advantage over any ground bound creature." Mai gloated, "Looks like you really are hopeless without Yugi to guide you."

She was not wrong. That was a rookie mistake to make. One that had cost him almost a quarter of his life points. He needed to be more careful. Yugi would not have made that stupid a mistake.

But then Yugi was not here. He did not know where she was and when this duel was over and he'd doubled his Star Chip total, if Bakura had not found her, he was going to go looking.

In the meantime he just needed to keep his cool and try not to make any more stupid mistakes.

* * *

There was no way out.

It did not matter what she tried or how much she struck the reinforced glass, she was trapped in the pitch black cube, it was heard to breathe, she could not see or hear anything and her own voice just echoed back to her.

And it was dark. So very very dark.

She was panicking. Her mind and emotions were in so much turmoil that she could not think straight. It did not help that she could sense something pushing at her mind, trying to play with her emotions. It was either trying to soothe or fuel her distress. In the frenzy that had taken control of her mind she could not tell which, but it was not helping her. It was too dark, too quiet and if she moved around too much, she tripped over the chairs or bumped into the table. She wanted, no she **needed** to get out of here.

She needed to see colour and sunshine and her friends again. She could not bare to be alone. She could not. Not again. She needed her sister. Even if she could not talk to her, just being able to feel her little sister's mind and soul resting against hers would be enough. She needed the light the girl brought to her life. She could not stand against the darkness without her. She just couldn't. "Imoto-chan...please..."

_'Anesan!'_

Oneesan's panicking mind stalled at the name, screamed in hope and desperation by her Imoto-chan. The word bounced around her mind as she froze, physically and mentally.

 _'Anesan, I'm still here! I'm right here with you! You're not alone!'_ Imoto-chan's voice continued, sounding like it was coming between sobs. The sorrow and desperation in the tone and emotions tumbling down the link made Oneesan stumble into one of the blackened walls and slide down it before sitting with her head resting on her knees. _'Please, don't let this beat you! Please, please hear me!'_

"I...Imoto-chan?" Her voice trembled as she spoke, the words bouncing off of the walls. She did not notice this time, all her attention turned inwards.

 _'Y...you can hear me? You can actually hear me!?'_ Relief and delight bounced down the link, mingled with sisterly love and concern, the tears she could feel and hear slowing as her fear eased enough that she was finally was able to sense the girl's bright soul and brilliant mind again.

"Y...yes...I hear you." She was rewarded for the reply by the sense of arms wrapping around her and squeezing in the best approximation of a hug that her wonderful light could manage over the link and for a brief moment, Oneesan was almost certain that she could see her little sister's spirit form hugging her.

_'Anesan...let me take over. Please. I chased Haga, this is as much my Penalty as yours and I don't fear the dark as badly as you do, let me help...please?'_

Oneesan mentally stalled. Was she being that pathetic?

 _'It's not weakness to need help, Anesan, but...we're sisters aren't we? Sisters look after each other...even if I'm the baby sister who normally needs protecting...Let me be the one to assist you this time, please?'_ Imoto-chan pleaded, her mental voice caring and a little sad. Oneesan hesitated for a moment, then stepped back, allowing her little sister to take control of the body.

_'Imoto-chan...thank you.'_

Yugi smiled at the hesitant words, spoken directly into her mind, glad her dark sister had calmed now that she knew she was not alone. "You don't have to thank me, Anesan. I'm happy to help." She said as she felt for a chair and took a seat and slowed her breathing, able to feel the vice like grip around her chest easing as she did so. The air was a little stagnant but not enough that she was worried.

Pegasus would not do anything that would kill her. Not yet. He needed her alive if he was going to win her Millennium Puzzle from her. However there was no point wasting air when she was all too aware that she was not going to get out. If her sister had not been able to break out of the Duel Box during her mad, frenzied attack on the glass walls, then she was not going to be able to either and letting herself fall into panic would not help her or ease the Puzzle spirit's mental state at all, "Don't worry...I'm sure Jou will duel soon. Then we'll be allowed out."

 _'It's not right for Pegasus to hold us here.'_ The spirit of the Puzzle huffed, getting angry as embarrassment at her freak out settled in. _'Haga stole from us! We were entitled to Challenge him! By giving us this Penalty, he's...'_

A quiet beep cut her off, making Yugi sit up right and look for the door, which swung open all by itself. The black walls vanished, allowing the bright morning sun into the glass box. It flash blinded her but Yugi did not care. The door was open and they were out of the dark. Now they just had to find her friends and she could relax a little bit. "Come on, Anesan." She said as she stumbled to the door, still blinking quickly and trying to regain use of her eyes, "Let's..."

"Hiding in the dark?" Yugi trailed off at the sound of Bakura's voice, the spirit of the Millennium Ring reaching into the box and pulling her out into the fresh air. "What were you..." She paused when she realised Yugi was looking to her left rather than at her, "You can't see me right now, can you?"

Yugi was not entirely comfortable with the amusement in Bakura's voice at that as the Thief Queen pulled away from her, leaving her mostly-blind in the middle of the field. "Flash blinded." Yugi admitted cautiously, not wanting to admit a weakness to her, but needing the support for a moment.

"Gods above, below and sideways, you're fragile." The Thief Queen's voice circled her as Yugi blinked the light out of her eyes, "You need to toughen up, brat, if you want to survive. Right now I could do this.," Yugi let out a pained yelp as Bakura punched her hard enough to send her tumbling to the floor, before grabbing her collar and slamming her back against the reinforced glass wall, "And you wouldn't be able to..." Oneesan cut her off by seizing control. Her anger buzzed through Yugi's mind as she twisted free of the Thief Queen's grip.

"Leave her alone." Oneesan glowered at the other spirit as best she could with her sight slowly returning. She could sense her little sister's shame and, frustratingly, acceptance of her own weakness. "Imoto-chan..."

"Imoto-chan." Bakura emphasised the 'chan', " **Little** sister. She's not your equal. She's your pet. Your vessel. Without you she's nothing except bully fodder. Even you acknowledge she's weaker than you."

"She freed me. She completed the Puzzle that held me captive. That means she defeated me before we even met. She's stronger than anyone realises, even her." The Puzzle spirit snapped at the spirit of the Ring, relieved when her eyesight cleared enough to be left with just two irritating sunspots that danced in her vision, "I would suggest you don't belittle or threaten her again."

"What would you do about it if I did?" Bakura challenged, her tone sharp but her look, amused.

"You don't want to find out. Now if you don't mind, I have some friends to find."

* * *

"I summon Kojikocy. He gets a power up from the meadow." Jou played the monster in attack mode, confident that with the boost his monster got from the field power bonus, it's 1910 attack points would be enough to keep Mai's harpy at bay until he could think of something else.

"Nice try, little boy." Mai chuckled, amused that he thought he could stop her so easily, "But I play my Electro Whip, raising my harpy's attack points by 300." The harpy launched its attack as Mai laughed and Jou's points dropped again, the field power bonus vanishing when her airborne monster destroyed his ground bound one.

Jou could feel his hand shaking as he drew his next card. He did not have anything that could deal with her harpy in his hand and he was losing life points so fast that he would lose in just a few more turns if he did not think of something. His next monster, his Warrior of Gardna, fell just as quickly to a Cyber Shield boosted Harpie Lady with 2490 attack points.

"Have you learned your lesson? You're nothing but prey to me!" Mai crowed as his life points dropped to 810.

She was not wrong. He was pathetic. Without Yugi's advice he had made a stupid move and was now struggling to recover. He could not even think of how to do so. It was no wonder she had abandoned them the first moment she had had the chance. Her grandfather's soul was on the line and she could not afford to be tied down by some loser who was going to go out in the first round. He could not say that he blamed her. Even if she was the last person he had expected to just abandon her friends in a tough situation...was he really that useless that even Yugi considered him a waste of her time?

"Here's some advice for your next tournament, boy." Mai was smug, just as sure of her victory as Jou was of his oncoming defeat, "You can't become a True Duellist and play with your friends at the same time. Today's friends are tomorrow's enemies. Duellists can't trust anyone but themselves. Yugi knew that, that's why she abandoned you to go fight her own..."

"Jou!" Jou's gaze shot towards the call, surprise seeping in when he saw Yugi running towards the duel box. "S...sorry...I'm here." She gasped out as she stopped at the edge of the box.

He drank the sight in, wondering where the hell she had been, but relieved to see her. His eyes widened when he took in the light bruising coming up on her cheek. She had been struck by someone or something, that much was certain.

"You okay, Yuge?" Jou asked, rising from his seat to check on her.

"Don't." Yugi shocked him with the bite in her tone, causing him to sit back down and double check that it was Yugi talking and not Oneesan, "You're still in a duel. And I know you can win."

Jou stared at her for a moment, then grinned and nodded, turning back to the duel, confidence reignited as he drew. Yugi was here. She was safe and she was certain he could win. If Yugi thought he could win then he could win. She had never lied to him, had not abandoned him, and she was there, supporting him.

"R...right." He considered his hand carefully. He did not know how to get around Mai's Harpy combination, nothing in his hand was strong enough to take out the vicious avian enemy facing him down, however he did have one winged monster in his hand. It was not strong enough to take out Mai's creature, but it would be able to hit hers at least if he could just draw the right Equip cards. "I summon Baby Dragon, in defence mode."

The orange dragonet appeared on the field and snorted the tiniest flame imaginable at the harpy. She did not look particularly impressed and for a moment Jou's confidence quailed. Baby Dragon was not the strongest monster that he could have played but he was rapidly running out of options. At least if his dragon was in defence mode, he would not lose any more life points if it was destroyed.

"Is that all?" Mai sounded smug, still completely convinced of her total victory. "You must be running out of good cards." He flinched at her comment, not entirely certain she was wrong. He knew he had some but they were mostly warriors and ground bound creatures. "Meanwhile I can play cards like this, Elegant Egotist!"

Jou paled as Mai's one overpowered harpy split into three overwhelmingly almighty bird women with the same powerups from the Equip cards as the first one.

"What?! Now there's more of them?!" His voice cracked as he stared at the army he now faced. Three harpies with far too many attack points. He was done. He could not win. He had nothing that could fly with enough attack points to take them out.

"I can't attack on the turn I play Elegant Egotist, so make your move little boy." Mai chuckled, enjoying his panic.

Jou drew, his hands shaking. He could not win. He was done. The game was over and he had failed his sister. His Garoozis fell to the harpies even with its boost from the meadows and his life points dropped to just 120.

He was going to lose here. He had not even managed to get through one duel and he had already failed his sister. The prize money was so far out of his grasp that he might as well have not come along. He had not only let down himself and his sister, but Yugi too. She had given him her Star Chips in order to let him come and he had wasted them.

"Jonouchi Katsuya!" Jou's head shot towards the biting tone, snapped out by the dark spirit of the Puzzle. The edge in her voice, full of the cold fury that he had only heard from her when she was about to launch a shadow game. "Don't you dare give up."

"But...Yuge..." He hesitated, still staring at Oneesan, unsure what she wanted of him.

"Don't you dare abandon your sister to the darkness!" Her tone was so sharp it cut through the desperation he was mired in, "You can still win this. Remember, something you can show, but you can't see."

He paused, staring at her for a moment. He had promised Oneesan that he would never let her go back into the darkness, no matter what. He had decided ages ago that no matter what it took, he would protect her from that fate. Shizuka did not deserve any less from him. His little sister was as precious to him as his friends. More so in fact. To give up here and now, without fighting to the very last life point, after he had promised that he would return with the prize money would make him just as worthless as his no account, waste of space, alcoholic father.

But what did Oneesan mean? 'Something you can show, but you can't see?'

Then it hit him. She had given him a card the afternoon they had left Domino, or rather Yugi had. A card she had taken out of her golden treasure box. The very same box that she had kept the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle in while she had been completing it. The box he had stolen from Yugi the day before he had realised that they were friends, true friends, and come up with that corny line.

She had given him the Time Wizard.

Yugi had explained when she had given it to him that it could age up things like her Dark Magician and the Baby Dragon he now had on the field, making them more powerful. Other cards would wither and fade due to the passage of time. Because of it their attack points would drop drastically. He was certain that Mai carried almost no other monsters in her deck besides the Harpie Lady and once it was under the Time Wizard's spell, he would be able to wipe out all of Mai's life points easy as one, two, three.

"You might as well give up and hand me your Star Chips now." Mai chuckled, "You've only got one turn to live."

Mai's words did not affect him, he had a plan now. Even if the card was not in his hand right now, he had one turn. One turn to draw it and turn this entire duel around. He just had to trust in the cards, trust in them the same way he trusted in himself and his friends.

"YES!" He crowed as he checked the card he had drawn. "Meet my Time Wizard!"

"Time what?" Mai's confusion and Oneesan's smug chuckle was wonderful to hear as he played the card, causing the clocklike magician to appear in virtual form.

"Time Wizard, it zooms forward time, fast forwarding it by a thousand years! Turning my Baby Dragon into a Thousand Dragon!" The dragonet grew and aged, smoke billowing from the huge creature's nostrils as it faced down the aged, wrinkled and grey haired harpies.

"N...no...this can't be happening..." Mai stared at her harpies in horror, observing the fact that her creatures had dropped to just 1300 apiece, in comparison to the dragon's 2400.

"A duel's not done until the last card is played." Jou smirked, trying to hide that he was rather disturbed by the sudden changes in the holographic harpies before him. "Now, Thousand Dragon! Attack, with Thousand Nose Breath!"

The smoke erupted from the dragon's nose, engulfing the entirety of Mai's side of the field, killing all of Mai's harpies and nuking her life points in just one attack.

"N...no...I can't believe I lost..." Mai was in shock.

"Mai, you remember how I asked what you fought for?" Jou asked her, watching as she sat back in her seat and pouted as she had to hand over two of her Star Chips.

"Yeah? What about it?" She huffed, ticked off as she watched Jou put the two stars into his cuff, trying not to wonder if she had lost purely because she had been playing fair and not using her aroma trick. In six months she had lost just two duels. Both of which she had been been playing straight. Was she that bad a duellist that she could not win without her scent tricks? Or had this been purely down to dumb luck?

"I have promises to keep Mai. People who are important to me. I **need** to win the prize money, in order to save my sister's eyesight. That's more important to me than any money or fame or cars. And I promised a friend I'd help her save someone important to her too." He glanced at Oneesan, who nodded and smiled. "That's why I won Mai. Because I have people relying on me."

"Well...if you're going to make it to the finals...I guess I'll see you there." Mai stood and stalked out of the box, not sure how to respond to that and not wanting to consider that he could be right.

Jou sighed and stood too, swiftly exiting the box and going over to his friends, ignoring Honda's pointed comments about sheer dumb luck. "You okay, Oneesan? Where were you?" He asked Oneesan, watching her with concern and noting how on edge she was.

"I'm fine. It's a long story." The spirit of the Puzzle shrugged it off and started heading for the other duel boxes in the meadow, "Now come on, I need to start earning Star Chips."


	6. Dino Disaster

"He did what?!" Jou snarled out making Yugi wince.

"I'm okay Jou, we're both okay." The girl put her hand on his arm, trying to calm her friend, who had pulled her aside to get full answers.

"It's not okay, Yuge." Jou shook his head, furious on her behalf. "I should punch that lousy cheating ass in his smug face!"

"Something good came out of it!" Yugi tried to distract him, feeling awkward as she noticed other duelists looking in their direction.

"Oh? And what's that?" He snapped, angry enough to not be watching his tone.

 _'If he snaps at you one more time, he's not going to like the consequences.'_ Yugi startled slightly as her big sister's irritated voice came through clearly, as if someone had spoken the words directly into her mind.

"It's okay, Anesan." Yugi spoke aloud without thinking, surprising her friends. "He's allowed to be angry on our behalf. He's not snapping at me deliberately."

"Yuge?" Jou's anger stalled in his confusion as Yugi tried to soothe her big sister's frayed temper using the link.

"You two can talk now?" Anzu asked, sounding like she was not sure Yugi was not just going crazy.

Yugi nodded, smiling brightly, "I can hear Anesan's voice, in here." She tapped her head, "And she can hear me."

Anzu looked dubious but Amane hesitated for a moment before speaking up, "I know what she means...I occasionally talk with Voice the same way."

"Voice?" Honda looked confused.

She tapped the Ring. "I don't like referring to her by name...it sounds too much like mine. But I can hear the spirit of my Ring the same way Yugi is hearing Oneesan."

"So...she's not nuts?" Honda asked. His eyes widened and he backed up quickly as the Puzzle glowed at his question and a rather pissed off Oneesan seized control.

"Do I need to remind you that I exist, Honda?" Oneesan growled out, her aura flaring up and making the target of her anger seriously consider retreating to safety. "Imoto-chan is not crazy and you'd do well to remember that."

"S...sorry." Honda stammered.

"I'm not the one you should apologise to. It's Imoto-chan you insulted." The spirit of the Puzzle bit out, trying to decide whether to let her magic fade away or not. She could not claim to be entirely sane, though she was much closer now than she had been upon first escaping the Shadows. Imoto-chan, however, was in no way, shape or form crazy and she did not appreciate their friends casting aspirations on her little sister's mental state. If she had to scare him into an apology, she would.

"I..." Honda squeaked out, making Jou chuckle slightly. He glared at his friend and coughed lightly, "I'll apologise." He tried again.

"Good." Oneesan huffed, making her aura fade away, "She doesn't need you doubting her. This weekend is going to be hard enough as it is."

Honda winced at that and nodded. That seemed to be enough for the former Pharaoh who retreated to the Puzzle, content to watch for now, unless her precious little sister got in over her head. Imoto-chan had already proved herself to be a gamer of her calibre, their Go games had already proved that. Oneesan trusted her to be able to handle a fair duel. If they were attacked however, or someone cheated, she would be more than willing to step in.

"Yugi, I…" Honda started, trailing off when Yugi smiled at him.

"It's okay, I get it." She shrugged, looking around, feeling a little weighed down by everything riding on the tournament and her big sister's trust in her, "I thought I was going nuts when I first solved the Puzzle. It took me a while to realise otherwise."

"Still…I'm sorry." Honda shrugged, "Now where are we heading? You still have to duel."

Yugi nodded, thinking. Her deck was mostly warriors and spellcasters, with a couple of dragons and fiends thrown into the mix. It could take advantage of almost any terrain bonus so she was not actually sure where to start. She could see a couple of duelists over in the field Jou had just duelled in were eyeing her up as a potential opponent and was just considering which one of them to challenge first when someone called her name.

"Yugi!" She startled and turned to face the speaker, able to sense Anesan, her big sister, waiting in the corridor between their soul rooms, ready to take over if necessary.

When she realised it was Dinosaur Ryuzaki Raptor approaching, she stood up straighter and dusted herself off a little before calling, "Hi…"

"Don't hi me." He grumbled at her, "I have a bone to pick with you."

"Huh?" Yugi blinked, confused as to what she had done.

"I wanted to be the one to take out Haga." He complained. Yugi hesitated. Technically Haga had started on them first, but they had already been through a Penalty for dealing with him and she did not particularly wish to incur more wrath over it. "And I know it's you who knocked him out of the tournament, because I saw you chase him last night."

Yugi flinched, she had known she had woken other Duelists and that Mai had kicked Ryuzaki out of his private room, but she had hoped that no one would make the connection.

"I challenge you, Yugi." Ryuzaki continued, showing his Dueling glove, which only had two stars on, just hers. "Winner takes all."

"Yugi…" She could hear the worry in Anzu's tone, but Yugi considered the challenge properly. She needed Star Chips in order to progress in the tournament and she did not have enough that she could just turn away a challenge. However this was Dinosaur Ryuzaki. He was the National Runner-Up. He was so far above her in skill level that she did not know if she could beat him.

' _Imoto-chan, I will take over if you wish but you are much better than you give yourself credit for. You can win.'_ Her Anesan, the spirit that she had accepted into her family, who she called her big sister and who claimed her as her little sister, trusted that she could win and that made Yugi's mind up for her.

"Alright, Ryuzaki, I accept." She heard the sharp gasps of her friends but she started towards a Duel Box and checked the map. "This box? It's fair to both of us."

He paused, surprised that she would consider that, then came to examine the Duel Box, smirking slightly as he asked, "Are you sure you want to give me half the board? My dinosaurs adore the Wasteland."

"Oh I know." Yugi smiled back, actually beginning to look forward to the match, "But there's Mountains and Meadow on my half, so it balances out."

He nodded and entered the box without a moment's hesitation, Yugi, on the other hand, paused at the door briefly, remembering the recent Penalty.

"Problem, Yugi?" Ryuzaki asked, watching her closely.

"No, no." Her reply was hasty and as she took her seat, she realised that she had given him the impression she was nervous. It was not an entirely false impression, but she did not want him to think her weak. "I'm ready when you are."

"Ladies first then." He gestured to the board.

Yugi smiled slightly as she drew her opening hand, she knew his game. Giving her the first turn was not as chivalrous as he was making it out to be. She would not be able to attack on her turn and it would give him a chance to try and work out what she was up to. "I draw." She did so and considered her options. "Celtic Guardian in attack mode." The green clad elf warrior appeared on the field, facing down Ryuzaki without fear and gained attack points from the Meadow causing him to rise to an impressive score of 1820, "And two cards face down." She placed them on the field. "It's your move."

Ryuzaki grimaced slightly, "I see why you weren't worried, that thirty percent power bonus is a real bonus, huh?" Yugi nodded, "Still, that won't stop my dinos." He put Sword Arm of Dragon on the field and Yugi let out a sharp breath as it's attack points climbed to 2275. "Now, attack her elf!"

"I activate Spellbinding Circle!" Yugi called, not willing to take life point damage is early and flipping one of her facedown cards, revealing her Trap. The magic circle forced the rampaging dinosaur to stop in its tracks and protected her warrior.

"Smart move, Yugi." Ryuzaki complimented her as she felt her older sister's delight and pride buzzing through her mind. Yugi blushed a little at both the words and the emotions, "But that won't stop me forever."

"Oh I know." Yugi grinned back, trying not to wonder why she felt more alive than she did when she was playing casually with friends and trying to ignore the crowds that were gathering to watch. "Is it my move though?"

"Yeah, yeah." He looked slightly irritated as he waved her to make her move.

Yugi drew and smiled as she felt the card hum in her grasp, "Dark Magician, come to my aid!"

The purple clad magician appeared on the field in a swirl of shadows and a flourish of magic. Ryuzaki tried not to be weirded out by the small smile the hologram gained when Yugi let out a delighted noise at his entrance. Holograms were not real, they could not respond to their Duelists…

"Now! Dark Magic Attack!" Yugi called, "Take down his Sword Arm of Dragon!" In a burst of dark magic the dinosaur died and Ryuzaki's life points dropped by 225. "Celtic Guardian, direct attack!"

"I wondered when I'd see him." Ryuzaki huffed, grimacing as his life points dropped below 500. "I saw you play him against Kaiba."

Yugi grimaced at that. She had not been the one to duel Kaiba, Oneesan had. "The deck's gone through some changes since then. Your move, by the way."

"Oh I didn't expect any less." Ryuzaki paused as he drew, a small, smug smile settling on his features. "But it makes me wonder, if he's in there, maybe something else you used against Kaiba is…something white, with blue eyes." Yugi flinched and Ryuzaki's smug grin grew. "Oh I'm right."

"So?" Yugi asked.

"So…how about a wager? My rarest card, for yours." The Dino Duelist asked, as he considered his hand. "Just to make things a little more interesting."

"I don't…" Yugi started, shaking her head.

"You should consider it." Ryuzaki interrupted her, "I have a tournament only card. Only a very small number were ever made." Yugi saw Jou move at the edge of her vision, opening his mouth as if to encourage her to go for it and then stop, and felt Oneesan's interest. "You're maybe a turn away from winning, what harm could a wager do now to you?"

Yugi hesitated. _'Anesan?'_

' _It has to be your choice, Imoto-chan.'_ The Puzzle spirit told her, keeping her emotions hidden so they could not influence her, _'If you wish to try for his rare card, then I won't say a word. If you don't, then that's perfectly fine too. This is your duel. No one else's. Only you can decide.'_

Yugi glanced at her friends, looking for cues one way or the other. Jou clearly wanted to encourage her to go for it. She had a funny feeling that if he were in her position, he would make the bet. Would he consider her weak if she did not go for it? Anzu seemed worried, though Yugi was not sure if it was because she thought the wager was a bad idea, or whether it was because she was concerned about the duel. Honda hesitated when he saw her look his way, then shrugged, leaving it in her hands, while Bakura was watching her like a hawk, making her unsure whether it was her friend or the Spirit of the Ring that was in control.

Keeping her mind off of that problem for now, she turned back to Ryuzaki, noting that it was quite clear that the crowds that had gathered were excited about the possibility of seeing a high risk duel and the idea of the wager had excited them.

To risk her Ojiisan's Blue Eyes seemed unforgivable though. He had trusted her with his most precious card, with a card that he had been given by one of his best friends. To risk it in a wager, even for a limited print card was not fair to him. Plus the Dino Duelist would not be making the bet if he did not think that he could still turn this about. He had to have a trick up his sleeve to reverse his luck.

"Thank for the chance, but no." Yugi shook her head, trying not to feel like she was wimping out when she heard the grumbling from the people watching. "Ojiisan's Blue Eyes means too much to me to risk it."

Ryuzaki scowled briefly, then huffed and shrugged, "I guess I can respect that." He told her as he considered his hand, "It's a smart move anyway, because I'm about to stomp you." He selected a card from his hand and smirked, "Meet my most powerful monster, my Red Eyes Black Dragon!"

He summoned the creature and it appeared on the field with a ferocious roar, the powerful black scaled creature beating it's wings and causing a wind that forced her two creatures to brace against it. Yugi tried not to be nervous as it towered over her Dark Magician and Celtic Guardian.

Normally it would not be stronger than her magician, but the mountains that she had wanted to power up her Blue Eyes and other dragons now boosted **his** dragon's attack points to 3120.

"And I'm not done, Yugi." Ryuzaki smirked, "I equip my Red Eyes with Dragon Nails, boosting it's attack by another 600, taking it to 3720."

Yugi gulped as the huge black dragon gained a pair of metal claw like gloves and the duel suddenly looked lost.

"Now, Red Eyes! Attack her Celtic Guardian! Inferno Fire Blast!"

Red Eyes launched a ball of magma from it's mouth at her elf, who died in an instant. Yugi's life points rocketed down, hitting just 100 and leaving the girl reeling.

"Next turn, Yugi, I end this." Ryuzaki smirked, amused by how badly he had thrown her off and by the fact he had nearly wiped her out in one hit. "But that's all I can do for now."

Yugi was still stunned and she stared at her hand in shock. She did not have anything in her deck with that many attack points. Blue Eyes could just about beat his Red Eyes using a field power bonus, but that was the only thing she had that would survive a head on fight with the creature.

She had known that Ryuzaki had had something to turn the duel around but now she was not certain she could win. With only 100 life points left, one wrong move would end the duel and she would not be able to rescue her grandfather.

 _'I shouldn't have duelled...I've ruined our chances...'_ Yugi thought, her hand trembling as she reached for her deck to draw. _'I wasted my trap card and now...'_

 _'Imoto-chan!'_ The slight bite in her big sister's tone made Yugi sit up straighter and pause in drawing. _'Don't doubt yourself. You made the right move for the moment, now concentrate and trust the cards, just like we did against Kaiba. We have ways of handling this dragon.'_

"Yugi, don't give up!" Jou called, trying to reassure her where she had supported him, "You and I are supposed to be in the finals together, remember?"

"Right, you and me, all the way." She smiled at him, panic receding at the words of her two closest friends, "Don't worry, Jou. I'm not out yet."

She drew, grinning when she saw what had pulled, "I switch my Dark Magician to defence mode and activate Magical Hats to protect him." She activated her face down card and a top hat appeared on the field, hiding the Dark Magician before splitting into four, leaving the dino fan with no idea which hat had her spellcaster, "Then I slip this card underneath one of the hats." She said as she placed the card she had just drawn, onto a magic and trap slot on the field, "Your move Ryuzaki."

He hesitated. He was certain there was nothing that there was no monster in her deck besides Blue Eyes with enough strength to stand up to Red Eyes and but he had no idea what spells and traps were at her disposal so he needed to be wary. If she put something under her hats that was not a monster it could be something that could wreck his dragon, or be something completely useless and he had no way of being able to tell.

Still he had never backed down from a challenge and he was not going to start now. He drew and put the card in his hand, "Red Eyes, destroy the hat on the far left!"

In an explosion of fire and heat the hat burned to a crisp, revealing that it had nothing within it.

"Nice try." Yugi smiled innocently, able to sense her big sister's amusement at the look of frustration on Ryuzaki's face.

"Eh, I'll get it next time. Your turn." He grouched, gesturing for her to draw.

She drew and frowned, the card she had pulled, Polymerisation, could not help right now. "Go on."

"Really?" The dinosaur duelist asked, surprised. When Yugi nodded he drew and then pointed to the field, "Red Eyes, The middle hat!"

Yugi flinched as the hat exploded, revealing her Dark Magician, who was crouched in a defensive position and followed the hat to the graveyard. Luckily, since it was in defence mode, she did not lose any life points.

"Gotcha!" Ryuzaki crowed, a broad smirk on his face. "And once I erase those other hats, it's all over for you!"

"Maybe." Yugi said, considering her hand as she drew, "Maybe not. I slip this card underneath one of my hats and I still have my face down card. Taking me out won't be as easy as you think." She informed him as she put a face down card in her magic and trap zone.

He scowled. He had been worried about this. No one had seen Yugi in action enough to start predicting her favourite spells and traps yet. It could literally be anything underneath those hats.

"Your turn Ryuzaki." She was too calm, he did not like it. She should be worried about his giant dragon and there was no sign of concern.

He had to make a choice. Left hat or right hat. They both probably had something nasty hidden underneath it. Unless she was bluffing, trying to save herself from the wrath of his dragon.

That had to be it. She had to be trying to buy herself time in an attempt to not lose all her star chips.

"I'm not gunna fall for it, Yugi." He snorted, feeling justified when the girl suddenly looked worried, "I know your game. You're trying to make me worried, I don't think you have anything special under your hats at all! Red Eyes! Attack the right hat!"

"Big mistake, Ryuzaki." Yugi grinned the moment Red Eyes started his attack, "There is something under that hat, a trap card! Mirror Force!" She flipped her face down card in time with the hat fading, revealing a shimming mirror like shield that bounced the Inferno Fire Blast back at the dragon.

The magma ball struck the obsidian scaled beast who bellowed in pain, making Jou flinch, before exploding into a million shimmering shards and fading away.

 _'Well done, Imoto-chan!'_ Pride surged over the link from her big sister and Yugi felt like bouncing at the praise as she watched Ryuzaki open and close his mouth repeatedly, looking kind of like a goldfish. The cheering she could hear from her friends and the crowd just made that feeling grow. She did not though. This duel was not over. He still had 375 lifepoints.

He stared at her for a few moments longer, then shook himself and grimaced, "I walked right into that...good move Yugi." When Yugi just smiled in return, he relaxed a little, "I can still beat you though...I summon my Tw0-Headed King Rex!" Yugi bit her lower lip as it appeared on the field, the Wasteland boosting it to 2080 attack points. Just because he could not attack this turn, did not mean that she was out of danger. She needed to draw a monster stronger than his Rex on the next turn or a monster she could defend herself with or this duel was all over. "Since I've used up my battle phase, it's your turn."

She took a deep breath as she considered her hand and the field. It was all down to this. Everything depended on this one draw.

As she reached for her deck, the crowd and her friends fell silent, like the weight of the moment was pressing on everyone as she put her hand to the cards and drew.

The moment she took it from the top of the deck, she knew. She knew she had drawn a good card. There was only two cards in her deck that radiated the same protective feeling that she got from Grandpa and only one of those, to her senses, shone like the midday sun. The approval from it was new though and made Yugi grin as she called, "I'm sorry Ryuzaki, it's over. I summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

The mighty opal scaled dragon appeared on the field, her piercing blue eyes staring down at Yugi's opponent, and roared, the cry making many surrounding them flinch back.

"Blue Eyes, end this. White Lightning Attack!" The dragon responded to Yugi's call, loosing a burst of light and electricity that struck Ryuzaki's Two-Headed King Rex, destroying it and erasing the last of the Dino Duelist's life points.

There was a second or two of silence and then Yugi's friends cheered, making her jump and startling Ryuzaki, who had been in shock, into scowling and leaning back in his chair, trying to work out where, exactly, he had gone wrong.

"Ryuzaki?" Yugi asked as she collected her cards and slipped her deck into it's holster on her belt, not showing her delight at winning beyond a small, soft smile, "That was a good game. Thank you." She offered her hand.

He paused and considered it, then shook it. "Yeah...yeah it was." He offered her the two chips he owed her, which Yugi slipped into her wrist band, her smile growing as she examined the four golden stars.

"I hope to face you again in the future." Yugi's tone was bright and honest, causing Ryuzaki to actually grin and nod in reply.

Pride and joy pulsed along the link as Yugi exited the duel box to find her friends waiting. The high five she gave Jou was satisfying and the crowd dispersed to go tackle their own duels. Her win making them hopeful of having a decent chance. She had, after all, knocked out the Japanese Regional Runner-Up. Anything could happen.

"Yugi." She glanced back over her shoulder to find Ryuzaki was approaching her.

"Yes?" The girl asked, turning to face him, her curiosity mingling with her Anesan's wariness as he approached, card in hand.

He hesitated, then showed her the card. His Red Eyes Black Dragon. "I was going to give this to you..."

"I didn't accept the wager." Yugi looked confused.

"No, but...I don't deserve him." He admitted, looking like he felt guilty about trying to bet the card for something stronger, "He's worth more than to be used for some stupid bet but...he doesn't really suit your deck, does he?"

She smiled ruefully. As much as she would like Red Eyes in her deck, she could not become reliant on dragons when most of her deck supported her Dark Magician more. She did not have the dragon support in her deck to justify a second dragon and becoming reliant for the Mountain terrain for the power boost was a double-edged sword. Ryuzaki had just proved that.

Ryuzaki did not need her to answer. Her smile was enough. Instead he turned to Jou and looked him over, "You. You're Jou?"

"Jonouchi Katsuya." He nodded, bowing slightly.

"You're heading to the finals with Yugi, right?" He asked, sizing him up.

"Yeah?" Jou half-asked, confused as to where the Dino Duelist was going with this.

"Here." He shoved the card in Jou's direction. "Take him with you. Use him to help Yugi. There's a whole bunch of duelists on this island who like to take what they want in any way they can and that's not even mentioning the eliminators..."

Jou took the card from Ryuzaki and stared at it in shock as he suddenly understood what Yugi meant when she said she could feel their 'heart.' The dragon in his hand felt like fire and like the sensation you got while walking along a dark street. "Are you sure?" He asked, going to hand it back, though he was not entirely sure he wanted to.

"Yeah...he deserves better to get knocked out of the competition this early." Ryuzaki waved him off, "So you'd better take him all the way and help Yugi in anyway you can. I don't want to have been knocked out by anyone but a finalist...Anyway, see you later." With that he left for the boats off of the island.


	7. Fish Food

"Man, I can't believe Ryuzaki gave me his Red Eyes." Jou sounded amazed as he examined the card, still feeling a little astounded.

"You only got it because Yugi didn't want it." Honda snorted, shoving his friend who staggered and glared at him.

"It's not that I didn't want it." Yugi sighed, already predicting a fight if she did not intervene, "It's that..."

"Oh come off it Yugi." Honda snorted, "You would have totally found a way to get Red Eyes to work with your deck if you'd really wanted it. You were just trying to make sure this idiot's deck got an upgrade." He shoved Jou again causing the blonde to snap and shove back.

"Knock it off Honda, my deck is fine!" Jou growled back, hands balled into fists.

"Yeah, shame about the guy using it. You had to get Yugi to let you come and you were hopeless against Mai until Yugi caught up to us. If she hadn't told you what to do..."

"Guys stop!" Yugi put herself between her friends as Jou went to swing for Honda, causing the blonde to stop mid-blow so he did not strike her instead. "Honda, Jou's a great duellist. Jou, please don't punch Honda."

Jou and Honda glared at each other a moment longer, neither of them wanting to be the first to back down, then Honda snorted and took a step away. Yugi had a feeling that if she had not intervened he would have antagonised Jou into a full on brawl.

"It doesn't matter anyway." Honda grumbled, "They're avoiding us."

Yugi blinked and looked around, suddenly realising that Honda was right. The other duelists on the island _were_ avoiding them and from what little she could hear it was because no one wanted to risk duelling her. It kind of made sense, she had beaten Kaiba in a televised duel and had just taken out the Japanese Regional-Runner up. That did not mean she was not a little sad about it. Duelling Rex had been fun and she had been looking forward to more duels like it.

"You just need to move around a bit." Amane spoke up, "If these Duelists are too scared to duel you..."

"Too scared to duel Yugi more like." Honda snorted, "I bet you if she wasn't here, he'd get challenged every thirty seconds."

"Maybe I should..." Yugi started to speak, backing up a little, not wanting to ruin Jou's chances of getting into the finals.

"No, Yuge." Jou shook his head, going to grab her arm to stop her retreat before remembering the last time he had done so and stopping. "After what that prick did to you and 'neesan we shouldn't split up."

"He's right." Anzu agreed, "We're a team, we should stay together."

_'If she wanders off again, I'm not hunting her down.'_ Ba-Khu-Ra grouched in the back of Amane's mind, seriously unimpressed with the infighting. Amane sighed softly, agreeing with the spirit for a change.

The sound of Jou's stomach rumbling put paid to the arguing and the boy blushed in embarrassment. The noise made Honda huff and roll his eyes but it did break the rising tension and cause Yugi to giggle.

"You're carrying the food." The Puzzle holder reminded him with a grin.

"Yeah I packed it all in the...black...bag..." He agreed, trailing off as he took a blue bag off of his shoulder. "Umm..."

"Jou?" Yugi's eyes widened, worried now, "Where's the black bag?"

Jou looked around frantically then froze and flinched, "Shit..."

"Jonouchi Katsuya, don't tell me you forgot the food!?" Anzu scolded, her hands resting on her hips as she glared at him.

"Umm...oops?" He tried, looking sheepish. "I packed it but I forgot to grab it on the way out. I'm pretty sure it's still on the side."

Yugi face palmed, dreading the smell she would be going home to if the food in the bag spoiled while they were away.

_'Imoto-chan, may I take over?'_ She smiled slightly at the fact she could hear her Anesan's question and mentally stepped back.

_'Try not to be too harsh, please?'_ Oneesan snorted softly as her little sister's question played through her mind. She was not planning to be harsh but she did have a very important question.

"Is anyone else carrying food?" She asked, noting that Jou startled when she spoke and Anzu and Honda flinched. "Because there's no restaurants or food stands around...we can't go without food or drink for the entire weekend."

"I have drinks." Anzu admitted, "And a few snacks but..."

"I brought a survival guide." Honda tried, pulling it out of his backpack.

"We brought food." Oneesan mentally grimaced when a smirking Thief Queen took control and gloated at them. "I might even let my Landlord share with you...for a price."

The Pharaoh was about to ask what the price would be when Jou paused and sniffed the air.

"Someone's cooking." He grinned, heading off in the direction the smell was coming from. "Keep up guys."

Honda and Anzu followed him but Oneesan hesitated to turn her back on the Thief Queen who still looked amused, probably because she had one up on them. "What do you want?" She demanded.

"Your vessel should eat, you're cranky." Bakura smirked at her, "Oh wait..."

"Just tell me what the price is." Oneesan snapped out, trying to calm herself when she felt her little sister put a spectral hand on her shoulder, reminding her that she had her back.

"Oh it's not much." The Thief Queen chuckled, enjoying having her former friend over a barrel, "I just want a little something."

"You can't have the Puzzle."

"Oh I **will** own the Puzzle eventually." Bakura snorted, "But that's not what I'm..."

"Yuge!" Oneesan jumped and looked in the direction of the call to find Jou grinning and waving them over from the bushes on the other side of the field. "I found something."

"We'll get back to this later, huh?" Bakura's smirk ground on her nerves as she passed the Pharaoh on her way to catch up to the others, "You're going to get hungry again after all."

Oneesan did not retort, refusing to give her adversary anything else to amuse her. Instead she swapped with her light soulled sister who darted in the direction the others had gone.

She emerged from the bushes to find the others had settled around a campfire on the edge of a short cliff, not that far from a Duel Box. The smell Jou had followed had been the smell of fish roasting on sticks over the blaze and Yugi's mouth watered at the sight and smell. It looked really good and Yugi went to join them, only for a thought to occur to her, "Jou...you realise that's someone else's food right?"

"I'm sure they won't mind sharing, Yuge." He waved her concern off. "I mean, it's only a couple of fish." With that he hooked one off of the rack and took a bite. As if that was a sign to tuck in, Honda joined him. Yugi did not though, wanting to ask before she took someone's food. After all, if they had gone out of their way to catch it, it was only polite to ask permission first.

That was probably a good thing as the first sign of the person who had caught all the fish was a rather angry bellow from the nearby cliff edge, as a young man, probably about six or seven years older than them, wearing goggles and carrying a harpoon with a fish still wriggling on it bellowed out, "Oi! Thieves! Get off my lunch!"

Jou and Honda stopped but it was a bit too late to give back the stolen food and as he stormed over to them. Yugi backed up a little, noting as he threatened the boys, that he was wearing a glove like the ones she and Jou wore.

"What are you?" Jou's question made Yugi sigh, wondering if any sense of subtlety had fled from her friend at all. "A castaway or something?"

"I'm no castaway. I'm Ryota Kajiki, the Duellist of the Sea." The young man snarled at Jou, still waving his harpoon aggressively. Yugi mentally winced at Jou's blunder as she recognised the name. Duelling magazines like 'Game On' had mentioned him before. He specialised in Fish, Sea Serpent and Aqua monsters in a sea themed deck and often attended big name, big prize money events.

_'Imoto-chan...he's looking at you.'_ Yugi paused at her elder sister's comment and glanced at Kajiki who was, as the spirit had said, watching her with a slightly hungry look.

"If you're a Duellist, then I challenge you." Jou had noticed too and he spoke up before Kajiki could say anything to her, causing them both to startle and turn to the blonde. Jou stood up, looking determined, "I'm the one who stole your fish after all."

Kajiki paused to consider him, grimacing slightly. Yugi could guess what had been going through his head. He had been considering challenging her before Jou had spoken up and now he was not sure whether to duel Jou or not.

"Sure." He nodded finally before looking at Yugi, "You ladies are welcome to have as much fish as you like, while I take out this small fry."

"I wouldn't underestimate Jou." Yugi spoke up in defence of her friend, "He's much better than you think he is."

"Maybe. If he's not, I'll be coming for you next, Yugi." Kajiki's smirk did not worry Yugi. She had every faith in her friend's victory. "You." He looked he looked at Jou, "I'll be waiting for you in the Box."

"My name's Katsuya Jonouchi, not 'you'." Jou huffed at him, "And I'll be there in a sec." He put the fish he'd been eating down and wiped his fingers as Kajiki stalked off ahead. He hesitated for a moment, then, as he saw Yugi about to head to the Box he shook his head. "Yuge...can I ask you a favour?"

"What's up?" Yugi blinked at him, confused.

"I don't want you to help me this time." Jou's words made Yugi freeze, her mind stalling in her confusion.

"Are you stupid?" Honda demanded, "You only beat Mai because Yugi helped you."

"I know it's stupid." Jou snapped back, "And trust me, there's a part of my mind screaming 'take it back' but...I need to save Shizuka and that means putting everything on the line..." He took a deep breath and put his hand on Yugi's shoulder, "It's not that I don't trust you to give me the right advice, but...I need to know I'm strong enough to duel on my own...if I have to rely on you the entire tournament, if I can't duel alone, I might as well just give you all my Star Chips otherwise all I'm doing is putting more pressure on you."

Yugi understood, having felt like a burden on her friends on more than one occasion. If anything she was surprised. It had not occurred to her that Jou might feel the same way. "Alright."

"You're kidding." Honda glared at her, "You know he can't win alone, right?"

"Jou's got the skills he needs and...ack!" She yelped as Honda grabbed her by the collar and lifted her off her feet.

"You need to help him." He growled as he shook her hard enough to cause pain in her neck and shoulders, making her cry out. Oneesan tried to snatch control away so she could force him to back off however she did not need to. Jou hit Honda with a right hook to the jaw that caused him to drop Yugi and hit the deck hard before her little sister had gathered her senses enough to swap with her.

"Get it through your thick skull Honda." He snarled out, moving between Yugi and the guy he'd just punched. "I'm duelling alone this time and don't bully **Yugi** for **my** dumb-ass decisions."

"You want to duel alone, fine." Honda hissed, holding his jaw. "Be alone. Just don't come crawling back when you lose."

Jou was uncertain if he had knocked teeth loose with his punch but he did not care. Anger still vibrated through him over Honda's actions. Bullying Yugi to get her to change her mind was not the actions of a friend and they were supposed to be her friends now.

He startled when he felt a hand on his arm, holding on with just enough pressure to grab his attention, "It's okay, Jou. I believe in you...can I watch once I've eaten?" Yugi asked gently, un-phased by Honda's unpleasantness and just trying to calm him down, helping him focus on the oncoming Duel.

"Of course." Jou nodded, relaxing once it registered in his head that Yugi was unhurt and she was not angry at him for Honda's stupidity. Her smile at that was reward enough as he backed up a little, "Do you want me to save some for you?" He nodded towards Kajiki.

Yugi's startled laugh helped his nerves as she shook her head, "Take him down. I know you can. Have fun and good luck."

"Thanks Yuge." He grinned back, before heading for the box.

Yugi turned to Honda and offered him a hand up, ignoring the growling from Oneesan in the back of her mind about 'working out how to turn people into frogs' mostly because she was pretty sure that was something that could only be done in anime. "You okay, Honda?" She flinched back as he batted her hand away and pushed himself to his feet.

"No. He's an idiot and you're delusional for letting him do this." He hissed at her, his words and actions hurting Yugi enough that Oneesan took over and glared at him, red eyes and Puzzle glowing.

"The only thing protecting you right now is my oath not to harm Imoto-chan's friends." Oneesan warned him as he flinched away from her, "Jou needs to know he can do this alone, without our help otherwise it's going to wreck his confidence in the later stages when we **can't** offer any help. Imoto-chan knows that, that's why she agreed to stay quiet."

"It's alright for you and Yugi." Honda snapped. "You know you're fine in duels but Jou..."

"You're worried about him." Oneesan paused, straightening slightly and anger dissipating a little, as she worked out the source of his anger. "That's why you're being an ass."

Honda grimaced. "Yeah, yeah. I'll apologise to Yugi once she comes back out, I just...You're not the one who's seen Jou go through all these mad cap and dangerous schemes to try and get the money for Shizuka's operation. He even signed up with Hirutani originally because he thought he could get the money that way...this is his last chance. I don't want to see him blow it."

"I don't either but if we help him too much now, then he's not going to have the confidence later." Oneesan explained, "And how much worse do you think it'll be then? He's not the only one with a lot riding on this."

"Yeah but you and Yugi know the game like the back of your hand unlike Jou..." Honda trailed off as Oneesan started sniggering at his comment. "What? What did I say?"

"You honestly think that matters once the duel starts?" Oneesan's voice was incredulous, "We're only as good as the hand the game gives us. Once the duel starts it's about luck and being able to trust your instincts. If we hold his hand all the way through, he won't be able to trust in himself."

Of course her little sister's memories of the cards helped but Oneesan was not about to admit that. Especially since even she had relied on Imoto-chan for many of her best moves to date. Not that she would tell anyone that, not even her light. Her pride would not allow her to. She was getting better on that front, every moment she was not out and about, dealing with people being stupid or Bakura, she was examining her other self's memories of the game, learning the cards and formulating plans and strategies of her own. However she too, often relied on Imoto-chan more than she should.

Not that it was a problem in her case. She was certain there would not be a time when she had to duel where her little sister would not be there to support her, but still it paid to be prepared.

"You really think he's gonna be okay?" Honda asked, glancing over to the Duel Box, where Jou was just taking his seat opposite Kajiki.

"I have faith in Jonouchi. You should too."

* * *

Jou was nervous as he sat at the holotable in the Duel Box. Part of his mind was screaming at him for being stupid enough to ask Yugi not to assist him this time. Loudly enough in fact that he glanced over to the campfire, just to check that his friends had not gone too far. Relief coursed through him when he saw that the girls had taken seats around the fire and had started eating but Yugi was watching the box as she talked to the others and Honda was watching their backs to make sure no one could creep up on them.

"I don't think I've seen you at tournaments before." Kajiki commented as he shuffled his deck and placed it in the deck space on the side of the field that was covered by a blue wavelike pattern that Jou assumed was supposed to represent the Umi field card. It made sense, after all, for the Ocean Duellist to use an ocean field. "I thought this event was invitation only? Limited to only the best Duellists."

"I had an invite." Jou's tone was defensive as he tried not to rise to the bait. He was fully aware from watching the nationals with Yugi that Duellists liked to play mind games and he could not let Kajiki distract him. Besides it was true, he had an invite. Yugi had invited him along with her. Admittedly that was not an official invite, but Yugi had told him about Pegasus's sudden interest in him and was taking it as having permission to stay.

He shuffled his deck and put it on the opposite side, which was, thankfully, Meadow and Wasteland field as Kajiki drew his first hand and nodded, his expression thoughtful, "I suppose you wouldn't be here if you hadn't. Still, this island is not for new players...how many Star Chips do you have?"

"Four." Jou showed him the Duelling Glove that Oneesan had gotten off of Haga and the four golden stars in it.

Kajiki looked startled for a moment, then grinned, "This might be more entertaining then I thought...I have five, so I'll wager four of them against your four."

"That's fine." Jou nodded, thinking. Four Star Chips would put him at eight on the first day and probably get him miles ahead of the competition after just two duels, he just hoped he was not biting off more than he could chew by risking everything on this match.

His opponent drew and considered his hand carefully for a moment before nodding to himself, "I summon Mother Grizzly, in attack mode." The 1400 attack point grizzly bear appeared on the field and bellowed at Jou. He was not too worried. She was huge, but she did not get a bonus from the field meaning the cards in his opening hand could take her easily. "I end my turn."

"I summon the Flame Swordsman." Jou was confident as he played. His Warrior did not get a field bonus either, since the board was purely ocean and wasteland but at 1800 points of raw power he did not need one, "And he attacks your teddy bear." The warrior launched itself forward and his blade ripped through the opposing monster, taking 400 life points off Kajiki's total. "You'll need something stronger than that to stop me."

"Oh I know." Kajiki's confident chuckle was not reassuring as he flipped through his deck, "But thanks to your attack, I can start your downfall. I use Mother Grizzly's attack to summon Star Boy in attack mode." Jou did not get to see the holographic monster. As his opponent placed the card on the field the box flooded with water, causing him to yelp, before instinctively closing his eyes and holding his breath.

"Jou!" Yugi's call startled him into opening his eyes, only to find that the holographic water had receded back to the board which no longer had anything except Umi field right across it, Yugi had come to check on him and Kajiki was watching him with a highly amused look. He took a sharp breath as he saw the Flame Swordsman's attack had dropped by 400 during the flood.

"My Star Boy," Kajiki started, noting his surprise and displeasure, "Increases the attack of Water monsters by 500 and decreases Fire monsters by 400, so your little Warrior there is about to become fish food."

"I set a card face down and I end my turn." Jou huffed, feeling embarrassed and a little frustrated as he set his Monster Reborn card face down.

He was not the only frustrated one. Kajiki was not too happy with his opponent. He had wanted to challenge Yugi, not this minnow and it was impossible to know what he was going to do. The ocean duelist was pretty sure that Jonouchi was not even meant to be here. No one had heard of him before. He had no reputation. At least with Yugi while she had only entered the big leagues since her duel with Kaiba, beating the World Champion had clearly earned her her invite. From what he had heard from other opponents who had watched her duel Dinosaur Ryuzaki, that her deck was not entirely different from her most famous duel, so she was, in some ways, predicable, even if it was, apparently, hard to read her during a duel.

Jonouchi on the the other hand was hard to read **and** his deck was almost completely unknown. Considering the way Yugi was hovering it was possible she had built his deck for him. With the backing of a game shop behind her, he could bet there was not many cards she could not get ahold of if she wanted to and Jonouchi's deck was probably just as dangerous as hers.

He needed a defence monster on the field to protect his life points, just in case that face down card was something like Mirror Force.

"I summon Aqua Madoor in defence mode." Kajiki said, placing the Water Spellcaster on the field. The monster's 2000 defence points made it an imposing wall and Jou internally grimaced as Star Boy's effect took it's attack up to 2300. "And I equip it with Mage Power, increasing it's attack and defence by another 500."

Jou's grimace and Yugi's wince as Aqua Madoor's stats grew to 2800/2500, making it an imposing and threatening wall even without a field bonus made Kajiki grow more confident. "I'm curious." He started, making Jou startle and stare at him, "Did Yugi teach you everything you know? Is that why she's hovering like a cichlid? Ready to protect you at the slightest hint of trouble?"

Jou glared at him but he could not deny it, Yugi had taught him everything he knew about the game.

Kajiki smirked when he realised that not only was he right but he had gotten to his opponent, "Did she even build your deck for you?"

Yugi opened her mouth to object but a subtle stop motion with Jou's hand below the table, done without him even having to glance at her, cut her off. It was okay, he had this.

"I have nothing to prove to you Kajiki." Jou snapped at him as he drew, not as calm as he looked and internally smirking as he felt fire and darkness from the card he drew. "My deck can do all the talking for me, right Red Eyes?" He asked as he summoned the dragon in attack mode.

The dragon bellowed and launched a fireball at the Aqua Madoor. The spellcaster created a shield of water to defend itself and the embers sent flying back at Jou cost him 100 life points.

The dragon's roar made the defence monster flinch but Kajiki snorted, unamused. "If that's the best you've got then my monsters are going to drown you."

"Just go." Jou grumbled. The sight of the Inferno Fire Blast had been therapeutic and while he was not sure how the dragon had known he had wanted it to attack he was kind of glad it had, even if it had cost him life points.

Kajiki on the other hand was just glad that he had summoned the defence monster and that Jou's dragon had attacked it rather than Star Boy. Having Aqua Madoor above the waves had diverted the other Duelist's attention away from the starfish floating around below them, bolstering every Water monster's attack.

He drew and considered the field. His Aqua Madoor could destroy the dragon easily, but if that face down card was something like a Torrential Tribute or a Mirror Force, he could land himself in deep trouble. "I switch Star Boy to defence mode," The little red star fish started floating on top of the waves, "And set a card face down." Mage Power took Aqua Madoor up to 3200 attack and 3000 defence, "Your turn."

Jou drew and added his The Furious Sea King to his hand, keeping the low powered Aqua monster back, just in case he needed him later. Between the boost it would get from Star Boy and the field power bonus, it would grow to a nice healthy attack point total, however the Aqua Madoor's defence was still too high to knock it down and he could not afford to lose the life points if Kajiki switched it to attack mode and blew his King up.

Of course if he could get rid of Star Boy then he would not have to worry as much. Red Eyes would be able to take out Aqua Madoor if it moved to attack mode and he could blast his way through. "Flame Swordsman, make sushi out of his starfish!"

"I activate Negate Attack. You won't be dicing up my monsters today." The Warrior leapt forward to slash with his sword as Kajiki flipped his face down card. A portal opened up in front of Star Boy, absorbing the fiery slash and ending the battle phase.

The Flame Swordsman looked as irritated as Jou felt as he returned to his place at the side of Red Eyes. "Fine, your move."

The moment Kajiki touched the top card of his deck a burst of water and a flash of teeth flashed through his mind. A confident smile worked it's way onto his features as he considered the Terrorking Salmon he had just drawn. With all the bonuses it would get when it was summoned he could easily turn his opponent's side of the field into fish food.

He could leave his Aqua Madoor in defence mode while he did it too. If the face down card was a threat to his monsters like Mirror Force, then having a defensive wall would save him. If it was not, then he could turn his other monster to attack mode next turn and knock the guppie out of the competition.

"I summon one of the great beasts of the sea, my Terrorking Salmon, in attack mode," Kajiki informed Jou, smirking when a tidal wave started up behind him and rushed forwards, causing his opponent to yelp before the wave reached him.

The water swamped Jou's side of the field and for a few seconds all Jou could see was a silver blur with a mouth full of very sharp, very ugly looking teeth. He thought he heard his Red Eyes Black Dragon bellow in pain and something in him felt like it wrenched, then the water receded, taking 1220 of his life points with it and leaving him with just his Flame Swordsman on the field. The warrior's glower at Kajiki matched Jou's anger perfectly.

"My Terrorking will devour anything you summon." Kajiki's confidence was warranted considering that his newly summoned salmon had 3620 attack points and he had nothing in his deck that could match it. His most powerful monster, his Red Eyes Black Dragon, had been killed in the tidal wave, chomped on by the toothy monstrosity swimming within it.

Jou was not sure he could win now. He did not have any trap that could aid him in taking down the salmon on the other side of the field and his Monster Reborn would allow him to bring his dragon back but there was no point unless he could work out how to make a 2400 attack point monster stronger than a 3620 attack point one.

He should not have asked Yugi not to help, he decided as he drew, hiding his frustration as he saw that he had pulled Salamandra. The extra 700 points to the Flame Swordsman's total attack points could not assist him right now. It would not even get past Kajiki's wall of an Aqua Madoor.

"I wouldn't try that again if I were you." Jou bluffed as he set the Salamandra card face down, not sure if the ocean duelist would fall for it but hoping. He was not ready to admit defeat, "Your move."

Yugi watched nervously as Kajiki drew. Jou was in a really tough spot but she had promised she would not give him any advice. There was a way he could turn the duel around. He had the means in his deck. However she could not tell him what those means were.

"Can he win?" Yugi jumped as Anzu's quiet question startled her out of her thoughts. She turned to find Anzu and Bakura had finished eating and joined her at the side of the Duel Box.

"Yes, if he can find the right card." Yugi's nod reassured Bakura, but Anzu pursed her lips.

"Yugi...I know he asked you not to help him, but if he loses here, he'll lose everything. It would be better, as his friend, if you gave him at least a hint."

Yugi considered her words. She could see the logic behind them but she had made Jou a promise. Was she a bad friend if she kept her word? Or would she be betraying him by opening her mouth?

She hesitated. Jou did not look defeated. He was still trying to fight. He was on the defensive, that was true, but he had not given up yet.

_'Anesan?'_ Yugi asked, hoping her older sister was listening, _'What do you think I should do?'_

There was a few moments of silence, then Oneesan spoke, _'I think you've already made your choice, Imoto-chan. I can sense your thoughts. You know he's not given up, so you should not give up on him either. No matter what the others think. That's what I'd do too.'_

Yugi nodded slightly at her words and looked at Anzu, "Jou doesn't need my help, he can beat Kajiki without it. Whatever he has planned will work."

The ocean duelist froze mid-draw at her words. Yugi was confident that her friend could handle his monsters. At the same time Jou grinned at her, his confidence boosted by the confidence she was showing in him. Yugi grinned back. Jou still had this. She would not step in unless he asked her to.

"I draw..." Kajiki started, considering his opponent carefully. He had to discard Yugi's confidence in Jou. She had as much clue as he did about the face down cards were as he did. There was no way she could know, one way or the other. However even after he had settled back into the duel, the duelist opposite him was not showing any worry or fear of defeat and that was an entirely different matter. "I'm not going to reel in the bait too soon...make your move."

Jou was internally cheering as he drew his next card. Kajiki had him over a barrel. If he had attacked his Flame Swordsman then the duel would have been over. However the fisherman had fallen for his bluff. His game face was good enough that a professional duelist had not been able to see through the ploy.

And it had paid off. He had drawn Kunai with Chain. If the Terrorking Salmon attacked now, it would be switched to defence mode and it only had 1300 defence. His Flame Swordsman would get a 500 boost from the trap too, making it more than capable of destroying it.

However, Kunai with Chain was a trap card. He had to let the other duelist make the first move if he wanted to use it.

"One card face down." Jou informed Kajiki as he put it face down, ready to spring it. "And it's your move."

Now there were three cards in Jonouchi's back row and while he was convinced at least one of them was nothing more than a bluff, he could not be certain of all three of them. Kaijiki drew and considered his hand. He had nothing that could really assist him right now. He needed more cards to kill the backrow. "I pass but if you try stalling for another turn I'm going to flood your field and wipe you out." He warned his opponent.

Jou mentally winced at that one. If he switched Aqua Madoor to attack mode then even with the Kunai with Chain boost, it would all depend on which he attacked first with as to whether he could save his life points from an all out assault. He needed to go on the offensive this turn. There was no other choice.

He drew, stared at the card in his hand and then laughed, startling his opponent and his friends.

"You want me to make a move, Kajiki? I'll make a move. First of all, I summon my Furious Sea King to the field!" He summoned the monster who gained a 500 boost from Star Boy and another 240 boost from the Umi field, taking it up to 1540. "Then I activate my Shield and Sword."

The fisherman cussed as his monsters attack and defence points swapped, leaving his Terrorking Salmon and Aqua Madoor in trouble.

"I activate my face down Monster Reborn to bring back my Red Eyes Black Dragon." Jou continued, recovering the dragon from the graveyard, "And my face down Salamandra, increasing my Flame Swordsman's attack by 700." The warrior's sword started glowing before it was surrounded by a living flame.

This was it. Kajiki realised. Jou was about to overcome his monsters and turn this duel around.

"First of all, my Furious Sea King takes out your Star Boy!" The little starfish did not stand a chance and with its demise, the waters on the field receeded, increasing Flame Swordsman's attack by the 400 that had been stolen from it and decreasing Terrorking Salmon's attack by the 500 it had gained from the starfish. "Then my Red Eyes roasts your salmon. Extra crispy, please, Red Eyes." The dragon's fireball shattered the fish into shards of silver light and the ocean duelist flinched at the impact, "Finally my Flame Swordsman takes down your Aqua Madoor."

With the spellcaster gone, Kajiki's field was wide open and Jou suddenly looked to be in a winning position. The ocean duelist was horribly aware of that fact as he beheld the field.

If he had pressed his advantage he could have won, but he had held back, scared by the face down cards that had turned out to be nothing. He was sure that the last one, the one Jonouchi had held in reserve was nothing too. The very last one he had played before his come back was was probably just something else he had played to keep the fisherman on the defensive.

He drew angrily, feeling foolish for letting Jou turn the duel around and slammed Aqua Dragon's card onto the field. The water dragon appeared and bellowed, it's status as a Sea Serpent allowing it to utilise the field bonus. "Aqua Dragon, attack his Furious Sea King and win me the duel!"

Just as the dragon went to unleash it's waters upon the other side of the field, Jou smirked, "Bad move, Kajiki, I activate Kunai with Chain!"

The dragon switched to defence mode as the Flame Swordsman's weapon wrapped around it, entrapping it. His attack went up by another 500 and the duel was very, very lost.

"Hey, Kajiki...it's been fun." Jou offered.

"Just go." The ocean duelist did not want to hear it. He had been made a fool of and he just wanted to skulk away from the Battle Box.

His opponent winced at his irritable tone, "Flame Swordsman, take out his dragon and Red Eyes, end the duel." His monsters did as they were told. For a moment Jou thought Kajiki was going to toss the stars across the table, then his opponent closed his eyes, took a couple of deep breaths and centred himself. When he opened them again, he looked, if not entirely happy, certainly impressed.

"Well played, my friend. I certainly under estimated you. I won't be doing it again."

"Hey, it was a tough game. I honestly thought you had me." Jou's reply pleased the ocean duelist, who handed him the Star Chips. He inserted them into his duelling glove and picked up his cards, becoming startled when he touched the Flame Swordsman and found he could feel heat rising from it. It made him grin as he shuffled it back into his deck and exited the box to find Yugi was smiling.

"I thought it was a good duel." She grinned at him. "And so does Anesan."

"Yeah, it was alright." Honda snorted, trying not to look relieved, "But try not to scare us like that again, okay?"

Jou chuckled and nodded, "I promise to try."

"Good."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so we catch up to where I've posted on fanfiction.net. From now on updates will be forthcoming but slower, Hope you're all okay with that


	8. Shadows of the Past

"Oh yeah! Eight Stars! Count 'em. Eight!" Jou shoved his glove under Honda's nose, smirking as they headed back to the busier part of the island.

"Alright, alright, I was wrong." Honda's huff was entirely fake and Jou's smirk widened to full grin as he bounced across the group and came to a stop in front of Yugi.

"Sorry, Yuge," he apologised, looking sheepish, suddenly aware that he was now massively ahead of her.

"I'm pleased for you, I really am," she reassured him, smiling softly. "It's okay to be excited. You're nearly there already."

"I am." Jou's grin came back.

Amusement flowed across the link from her other self as Jou bounced back across the group. It was good to see him riding the high. She had been worried about him ever since he had played his sister's tape. He been quiet and, while she could get behind him working hard, he had driven himself to exhaustion on more than one occasion while they had been preparing. This was much more like him.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Anzu asked her quietly.

"I'm fine," Yugi replied, earning herself a disbelieving look from her friend. "What?"

"You're sure? I mean..." She glanced at Honda and Jou, who were playfully bickering back and forth.

"I know I'm behind." Yugi shrugged, trying not to be worried about the fact there were only four star chips in her glove. "But there's a long way to go before sunset tomorrow, and Jou's got lots riding on this, too. It's a good thing for him to be so close already."

"I guess..." Anzu's tone was worried though. "I just hope he doesn't get overconfident."

"He'll..." Yugi paused as she saw something moving on the edge of the forest nearest to them.

"Yugi?" Anzu asked, confused.

"Someone's stalking us," Oneesan told her, taking over and watching the figure moving through the trees, keeping up with them. Anzu startled and looked towards the forest, only to see a small figure with a hood covering his hair and cloth hiding his lower face watching them, glowering at Yugi from a distance.

"Think he's a challenger?" Anzu asked, watching the kid warily.

"Maybe." She frowned, gesturing to the watcher. His eyes narrowed as he glanced around warily. Oneesan felt startled recognition from Imoto-chan.

_'_ _Anesan... he's_ _being hunted.'_ Imoto-chan's voice shook slightly as a memory flashed through Oneesan's mind of her little sister, a couple of years younger than she had been when she solved the Puzzle, being chased by a violent bully and having to carefully check before she left the safety of cover in exactly the same way. _'I think he's in trouble. We should help him.'_

_'If he'll let us. He doesn't seem to like us much.'_ Oneesan sent the best equivalent of a hug that she could over the link, sensing how much the memory shook her little sister and wishing she could have been there for her.

"Let me go!" Oneesan turned towards the sounds of a kid yelling to find that one of the muscle men in suits who had been stalking around the Duel Boxes had grabbed a kid whose Dueling Glove was empty and was physically dragging him towards the boat. "Let me go! I didn't lose my Star Chips, I was robbed! My deck was stolen, too!"

_'_ _Oh,_ _you don't think...'_ Imoto-chan's mental voice was hesitant but Oneesan glanced towards the trees, guessing at where she was going with that thought, and noted that the stalker had vanished into the woods.

_'That boy. I suspect so.'_ She frowned slightly as she moved into the path of the thug, who stopped and snorted at her.

"Move, kid. This Duellist is disqualified." The brute smirked at her. "He lost all his..."

"They weren't lost, they were stolen. How many times do I have to tell you?" the young man objected, struggling in the man's grasp.

"By a kid about so tall..." Oneesan gestured off of the ground. "Purple hood thing, red top with orange-striped sleeves, blue cloth covering his mouth?"

"That's the thief." The duelist stared at her. "You've seen him?"

"He's been stalking me for the last ten minutes." Oneesan nodded before turning a glare onto the man holding the other competitor. "If I get his Star Chips back, will he be allowed back into the competition?"

"You've got half an hour." The suit huffed. "But if you're not back by the time he's on the boat, he's out."

"I understand." Oneesan nodded and looked at the duelist. "How many Star Chips did you have?"

"F...five," he stammered. "Thank you."

"We'll be back," Oneesan promised the boy, who smiled hopefully at her as she turned towards the forest and headed further into the woodland, trying to see if she could spot the thief. Her friends followed behind, Amane trailing at the back, half-wondering if Yugi was sure about getting herself involved in someone else's problems.

_'If it were me, I'd keep the kid's Star Chips for myself.'_ Bakura sighed as the Spirit of the Ring put her two pence' worth in as they searched the forest. _'If he's dumb enough to lose them then he's not smart enough to be in the finals... In fact if she doesn't keep them, I might steal them.'_

_'What would you even do with them? You're not_ _competing,_ _'_ Amane could not help but ask as she helped in the search, wondering why Oneesan had not yet thought to ask her to use the Ring to find the thief.

_'Mostly I'd taunt her royal highness with_ _them,'_ the Thief Queen admitted. _'_ _Also, Oneesan-_ _'_ and the emphasis she put on the name made it sound like a curse word- _'_ _will_ _never ask for our help. She's too proud for that and she doesn't trust me.'_

_'In her defence,'_ Amane sighed, _'_ _you_ _did punch Yugi earlier.'_

_'I was proving a point. The Runt is weak. She doesn't stand a chance unless she toughens_ _up... Oh,_ _look. To your right.'_ The Thief Queen sounded far too amused. Amane looked in the direction she had said, out over a cliff facing the docks they had landed on, in time to see the Duellist Oneesan was trying to help being hustled onto the boat.

"Guys!" They turned at her yelp and hurried back to her as he was dragged kicking and yelling through the door onto the boat.

"Damn it!" Jou growled. "That jerk had no intention of waiting for us!"

"I'm not surprised." Oneesan's expression was unbothered, but her tone showed her irritation. "It's kill or be killed on this island, and Pegasus's men are a part of it."

"Yugi!" A shout behind them caused them all to turn and look. The thief was stepping out of the under-brush and giving Oneesan the dirtiest look imaginable over his bandanna. "I challenge you!"

_'Anesan? Is he...?'_ Yugi trailed off as she felt acknowledgement from her older sister.

_'I believe so, but the question_ _is,_ _why is he here and why has he stolen Star Chips?'_ Oneesan replied. _'I'll take this one, if you don't mind.'_

_'No, he's all yours.'_ Confidence and trust in her poured down the bond from her other self and the ancient Pharaoh stepped forward.

"Alright, there's a duel box just back there. We can fight there,"the spirit told the boy, heading for the box and completely unsurprised when the kid followed without questioning. "How many Star Chips?" she asked as he took a seat opposite her, trying not to be amused by the fact Jou was stood behind her in the doorway, stopping the boy from fleeing that way, while Honda was covering the door behind the boy.

The boy dropped five stars onto the table. Oneesan frowned slightly. "I only have four, so I'll wager them all." The kid's nod confirmed that was okay, and as she drew her first hand, she noted that he was having to read his cards, like he was not quite sure what they did.

The boy threw down Man Eating Plant and the triffid-like creature appeared on the field, its 800 attack points making it little threat.

"I summon my Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress," Oneesan declared, "and it incinerates your plant." The flames the winged dragon spat out turned the vine creature to ashes and the boy's life points dropped by 600.

He seemed startled as his life point display showed 1400, but he kept going, throwing down Crocodilus, an 1100 attack point monster which fell quickly to Oneesan's Celtic Guardian, which she summoned next.

"Man... he sucks." Jou's voice behind her made Oneesan snort. She had a feeling that the boy would be much better with his own deck, or if he was playing his preferred game.

"You can't win like this," she told the boy, whose life points hit 1100. "Why not give up now? I won't..."

She did not see him move in time to react, and he managed to grab a handful a Star Chips off of the table, leaving just one behind as she grabbed his wrist, stopping him from fleeing. He struggled in her grip, dropping another two as he yelped, "Let go of me!"

"I knew it." Her tone made the boy flinch. She pulled down his hood, and messy black hair tumbled down his back, firmly confirming their suspicions. "Hello, Mokuba."

He turned and glowered at her, realising which Yugi she was. "Oneesan, let me go!"

She could hear her friends' confused mutters, but she did not let go as she asked, "What're you doing here, Mokuba?"

He did not answer to start with, still trying to flee, anger and fear clear in his features. He stamped on Oneesan's foot and the pain and shock startled her into letting go. Luckily, Honda was waiting for him and caught him on his way out.

"Don't hurt him." Both Honda and Mokuba startled at Yugi's voice. Oneesan waited to see if she would need to emerge, but Mokuba's desperation to escape had drawn Yugi out. The girl stepped out of her door and came around to Mokuba's side. "We're not your enemy, Mokuba. Please. Give me my star chips back and tell me what's going on."

"Yugi..." Mokuba looked at her, confused why she looked sad when she should be furious at him. "I..."

Honda let go of the kid as Yugi offered her hand, smiling at him. "Let me guess, Pegasus had you brought here. We can fight him. Together."

"It's your fault I'm here." Mokuba smacked her hand away and glowered. "Pegasus had me kidnapped because of you!"

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked softly, not rising to the anger.

"Pegasus wants control of Kaiba Corp," the boy hissed at her, "and he might actually get it because of what you did to Oniisan."

Oneesan stepped back into control, a scowl on her features. "Your brother gave my grandfather a heart attack and tried to kill me and my friends. I did nothing in response except give him a Penalty that will help him fix his heart."

"You broke him," Mokuba snarled, his hands balling into fists. "You broke Seto's mind and left him practically comatose! I don't even know if he'll wake up!"

"I shattered his mind, yes," Oneesan snapped back, "but he will reassemble it. Properly this time, without any of the... murderousness that he learned at the hands of your adopted father. I had to do something, Mokuba. He would have just kept coming after me until I'd lost everyone. It had to end."

Mokuba sagged, his shoulders sinking and his head drooping. She was right. He knew she was. He had not been any better but she had helped him when his brother would have seen him dead or insane. If there was a chance she could help Seto become the tough but fair brother he had once been, if she had a shot at protecting her family and friends, she had every right to take it. But...

"Why does he want Kaiba Corp?" Anzu asked him, her tone curious.

"Because we have the Virtual Duel Box, he doesn't. Duel Monsters was beginning to die off until Oniisan designed the Duel Boxes. Once they started being developed the game's popularity exploded. When Oniisan went into a coma, Kaiba Corp's stocks plummeted and Pegasus decided to grab the company. The five biggest share holders are helping him. They need something out of the mansion's safe in order to overwhelm Seto's 51% controlling shares, so I swallowed the key."

"Swallowed it?" Anzu yelped.

"Yeah, Oniisan paid in blood for Kaiba Corp and I'm not letting them take it from him. I'd rather die than hand it over!" The boy noted that Oneesan, Jou, and Honda were looking at him with something akin to respect. "Yugi, you might not believe this. Yes, he built Death T to get revenge on you, but that wasn't his dream... He wanted to build theme parks, Kaiba Lands, all over the place, so poor kids can have fun."

"Then why did you come after me? Is it revenge for what's going on?" Oneesan demanded.

"N-no." Mokuba shook his head. "One of the conditions of Pegasus taking the company was that he had to beat you, and no one, no one, can beat Pegasus. Even Oniisan said he was invincible." The boy was trembling as he spoke. "So I figured that if I could beat you, if I could knock you out of the competition, that would ruin his plans."

"Mokuba." Oneesan's firm tone made him look up at her with a mix of hope and fear. "Pegasus has taken someone dear to me, too, and I promise you. I will defeat him. Trust in me."

"In us." Yugi took over, offering him her hand and showing more confidence then her friends had seen from her since her grandfather had lost his soul. "We won't lose."

Mokuba paused and considered her properly. Yugi did not lie. She kept her promises. And he did not stand a chance against Pegasus and his men. Even with what he had done, he was simply delaying him. If Yugi could keep her word and do the impossible, then maybe, just maybe, things were not as hopeless as they seemed. "Alright, Yugi..." He took a Star Chip from the collection in his hand and was about to give it to her when...

"Stop! Exchanging star chips outside of duels is expressly forbidden. One more inch and you'll be disqualified!" Yugi pulled her hand back and Mokuba flinched at the sound of one of Pegasus's mooks snapping at them. "Now, I'm going to confiscate those star chips."

The man, another huge brute of a man who reminded Jou uncomfortably of some of his old gang contacts, headed for Mokuba and alarm bells went off in the blond's mind. Pegasus had already proved he was willing to take people prisoner. Even if Mokuba's story of kidnapping had been untrue, the 'Penalty' the CEO had given Yugi and Oneesan had shown how little he actually cared about people. He just knew that it would be a bad idea to allow this mook to get his hands on Mokuba. The kid would probably end up in a dungeon or something.

He moved between the man and the child. "One of those star chips is Yugi's," he objected.

"Get out of my way," the suit snapped at him. "Those are stolen star chips, and if anyone takes them without winning them in a duel..."

"But we were duelling, right, Mokuba?" Yugi asked quickly, suddenly understanding that the thug wanted an excuse to get close enough to recapture the younger Kaiba brother again. "My four for yours?"

"R...right." Mokuba nodded hastily, glancing back at the duel box where 'his' cards were still strewn across the table.

"He's not a registered competitor." The brute shook his head. "He's a guest of Master Pegasus."

"Guest, my ass." Jou's grumbling earned him a snigger from Mokuba and a death glare from the thug, who tried to shove past him and grab the kid. Jou shoved back, and Honda reacted not more than a half second later, pushing the mook back a couple of yards. "I don't think so. We're headed for the castle anyway. Your boss can wait."

"If he wants to see Mokuba again, he can wait till we get to the castle." Oneesan stepped into control and glowered at the thug, unwilling to leave her little sister in control in a dangerous situation.

"Who said you were ever making it to the castle?" He smirked, his eyes tracking something behind her. "Your next opponent is right there."

He gestured towards the duel box, where it looked like Seto Kaiba stood, giving Oneesan the darkest glare she had ever seen from him.

It was the Seto Kaiba she remembered from Death T, business suit and green hair and all, but emaciated, almost fatally so, like he had not eaten since the final battle. His suit was black instead of white, his shirt was a dark purple, his skin was almost translucent, making him pale as a ghost, and the glare tracked the spirit of the Puzzle as she headed for the Duel Box.

_'Anesan, that's not Kaiba, is it?'_ Imoto-chan asked hopefully, sounding a little nervous.

The spirit of the Puzzle reached out with her magic and frowned as she felt nothing but darkness and Shadows from him. Kaiba had always been a creature of mostly light. Tainted, warped light, yes, with that twist of Shadows that made him so very, very familiar, but light none the less. This... thing reminded her more of Bakura. It was darkness and Shadows and rage. If anything, it reminded her of everything she had hoped would be removed from the other Duellist when she had crushed Kaiba's mind.

"Yugi. I died because of you." Kaiba's words were hate-filled and Oneesan felt Imoto-chan mentally flinch. "Your actions led to my death."

"Y-you're wrong!" Mokuba's voice trembled, denying the ghost-like spectre's claim. "My brother's alive. H...he's in the hospital. And h...he doesn't have..."

"You'll pay for what you did to me... Revenge will be mine." 'Kaiba' cut him off. Anger flooded through the Spirit of the Puzzle as she stalked through the door into the duel box to his taunts.

This thing was not Seto Kaiba. That it dared to taunt her in his voice, dared to threaten her life... She would not allow it to keep making a mockery of him. Not when she knew Kaiba, knew that he could be better then he had shown, that he could be an ally that she would be proud to call on. When, somehow, she knew him like he was family. Estranged family admittedly, considering she did not remember anything from before her time in the Shadows and knew little about him in the modern age, but family nonetheless.

"Understand yet, Yugi?" Pegasus's minion's tone was as smug as the smirk on his face. "This isn't just any duellist: this is Seto Kaiba, back from the grave you put him in."

"I did not kill Kaiba," Oneesan hissed out, able to feel her little sister's support as she took a seat opposite the creature that dared to wear Kaiba's face. "And this is not his ghost. Kaiba lives."

"No, I don't." 'Kaiba's' tone shifted, from anger to certainty. "The Seto Kaiba you knew, the better Seto Kaiba, is dead. Because of you. You ripped me apart, destroyed me, threw me to the Shadows. Now my weaker part is dead and I was pulled out of the Shadows to take my revenge on you."

"If you truly are the parts of Kaiba that I wanted gone, then I wasn't the one who tossed you into the darkness. Seto Kaiba did that himself, making you the weaker part," The Pharaoh taunted, refusing to let him get to her. "But I'll be more than happy to send you back personally."

"You can try, Yugi." He smirked, pleased with her defiance. "But you will fail, and when you do I will kill you... No." His tone turned smug, vindictive. "No, I'll kill your Imoto-chan, slowly and painfully, and find a way to make you watch."

_'Stay in your Soul Room. I'll handle_ _this,_ _'_ Oneesan snapped at her little sister over their bond, not willing to risk her safety around this creature.

_'If you need me, I'm_ _here,_ _'_ Yugi promised her darker self from the doorway of her room,  _'_ _but_ _I know you can take care of him.'_

Imoto-chan's confidence in her made her smirk at her opponent. "You won't get a chance to touch her. I won't give you that chance."

"Then let's duel, Oneesan. I'll even give you three of those Star Chips my pathetic loser of a brother stole if you can work a second miracle." Kaiba's words made Mokuba flinch and Jou drew him close without thinking, offering support as the dark creature drew. "I summon the Battle Ox in attack mode."

Oneesan mentally grimaced as she considered her hand. The minotaur card had been one of the ones that that Kaiba had played against her during their duel at Death-T, so she was concerned that there could be other, more dangerous cards in his deck from that duel. Still, her deck had favoured her already. She had already drawn a monster who she could sense was ready to work with her to protect her sister, and it was with smug pleasure that she summoned "The Dark Magician in attack mode!"

The purple-clad spellcaster appeared on the field in a swirl of shadows and a twirl of his staff, glaring at the opponent with an anger that matched his summoner's.

"Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack!" At her call, the great magician let loose a wave of black magic that disintegrated the Battle Ox, sending the creature's life points tumbling to 1200. "You'll need to do better than that to defeat me."

"I can and I will." He snorted, drawing and smirking, a demented look that put her on edge. "Your end starts now, Yugi. Even my dragon wants revenge! Blue Eyes!"

Oneesan felt her little sister startle at his call and watched with stunned horror as the great white dragon appeared on the field. "I...it can't be..."

She glanced over her shoulder at the sound of the suited thug chuckling. "Oh, it can. I'm surprised you haven't recognised me, Mokuba."

Mokuba paused and considered him for a moment, then his eyes widened. "You were my bodyguard at Kaiba Corp!"

"Indeed," 'Seto' chuckled darkly. "He brought my deck back to me, which means, Oneesan..." He turned back to the Pharaoh, who had yet to take her eyes off the great white dragon before her. "I have all three of my dragons at my beck and call."

This was bad. This was really bad. They had needed Exodia to get past the trio of dragons the last time they had faced them. This time Exodia was in pieces and she knew that if she faced all three dragons at once, she would lose.

"I could destroy your Dark Magician right now." Kaiba smirked. "But why end the torment so soon? I'll play this face down instead." He slipped a card into his magic and trap zone. "That's all for now."

Oneesan mentally grimaced. With one Blue Eyes White Dragon on the field, she needed to pull a trap or bring Ojiisan's Blue Eyes out in order to be able to defeat it. When she pulled Curse of Dragon instead, she switched the Dark Magician to defence mode and laid the dragon that way, too. That way he could not take any of her life points on the next turn.

Or that was what she thought. He had predicted her move and he cackled as he flipped his face down card. "You won't escape death that easily, Yugi. I activate my Stop Defence, forcing both your monsters into attack mode."

"No!" Oneesan yelped as her dragon and her magician both took offensive stances. They were not the only monsters at threat either. As long as his Stop Defence was active, she could not play any defensive monsters, allowing him to tear through her life points at will.

"I will get my revenge, Yugi." Kaiba's tone was arrogant and smug. "There's nowhere you can hide from me. Blue Eyes! Go!"

He did not direct the great white beast, but she targeted the Curse of Dragon anyway, blowing it away in a burst of light and electricity and taking Oneesan's life points down to 1000.

"Yugi!" Oneesan could hear Mokuba and her friends calling, but she was already trying to work out how best to save herself.

"Kaiba's ghost'll be appeased once he kills Yugi." Mokuba's former bodyguard smirked, convinced the duel was already lost.

"Oniisan isn't dead!" Mokuba shouted at him from Jou's side. "I believe in him, this is just some cheap copy! Oniisan doesn't even have green hair any more!" His head snapped around to give Oneesan a pleading look. "You promised me, you promised me he would be back. And I waited. I waited for him! This can't be him!"

"Oh, I am, Mokie." Seto smirked.

"No." Oneesan cut him off, glowering, refusing to cower. "You're just a shadow. A remnant of everything Kaiba went through. You're not him. You will never be him. He will return and he will be stronger than ever, and when he is, he'll be an actual opponent for me. You're nothing but a stain on the ground. My cards will crush you." With that she drew, her confidence and faith in her cards rewarding her with the Magical Hats, which she used to hide her Dark Magician.

Kaiba looked furious as the four top hats took over four of her monster slots on the field, preventing him from knowing where her Dark Magician was hiding and protecting her life points from any attempts at a direct assault. "You waste your time and your turn with these cheap tricks. I expected this from your Imoto-chan, not you."

"What's the matter? Afraid of making the wrong choice?" Oneesan taunted, projecting far more confidence than she felt. It was down to luck for this turn. If he picked the wrong hat, her Dark Magician would live for another turn, and she needed him. Far too much in her deck relied on him.

"Blue Eyes, show her that her cheap tricks mean nothing!" The dragon reared back and for a moment Oneesan's heart froze as Blue Eyes considered the correct hat. Then it thawed as the opal-scaled dragon turned away and blasted the hat on the far right, an empty one.

"Good choice for me." Oneesan smirked at the dark spirit in front of her as she drew, grinning at the trap card in her hand. "Because it means I get to do this..." She slipped the card face down, under one of the hats, hiding it from view. "Now, if you pick the wrong hat again, you'll lose your dragon."

"You're bluffing. Trying to save your Imoto-chan's worthless life. Well, it won't work. Blue Eyes, take out the middle hat!"

She did and when the smoke cleared it revealed a face down card. Specifically, the face down card that Oneesan had just laid. "Nice choice," The Pharaoh chuckled. "Nice for me, that is. I activate my trap card, Spellbinding Circle!"

The magical seal surrounded the white dragon, decreasing its attack points by 700 and taking it down below the Dark Magician's 2500.

"Now, my magician, take down that dragon!" The Dark Magician leapt out of his hat, the one that had been on the furthest left, making the last one fade with it, and struck the Blue Eyes White Dragon down, taking out another 200 of Kaiba's life points, knocking him down to 1000.

She did not get to celebrate before a second Blue Eyes White Dragon took the field and blew her Dark Magician away, wiping out 500 life points and leaving her teetering on the edge of defeat at just 500 points remaining.

"You thought you could defeat me, Oneesan? I am the World Champion at this game! You are nothing but a wimp who got lucky. I'll destroy you!" Kaiba crowed as Oneesan stared in shock, uncertain how he had managed to get a second dragon that fast. "Now, draw your last monster so I can wipe it off the face of the Earth and send your Imoto-chan tumbling into hell."

Oneesan's heart raced. There was only one monster in her deck that had the stopping power to face down a Blue Eyes White Dragon ,and that was the white dragon Ojiisan had leant them. If she did not draw it, she would lose and the shadow creature in front of her would try to kill her sister... She did not know what to do. Perhaps she should have asked for Imoto-chan's help from the beginning. She might have seen this coming.

_'Anesan, you're not done.'_ Yugi's voice in her head made her straighten  slightly. _'_ _Sure,_ _it looks tough right now, but you can win this, without my help. You've not made a wrong move this entire_ _duel. Have_ _more faith in yourself. You're the stronger sister, you don't need me to win duels. Especially not against this creep.'_

She could not help the soft, amused snort that escaped at Imoto-chan's last words. Her opponent was a creep, but for Yugi to point it out was unusual and spoke of how irritated the girl was.

She drew, her hand trembling slightly as she saw that it was not, as she had hoped, her Blue Eyes White Dragon, but Kuriboh, which was mostly in her deck because Imoto-chan adored the thing and its ability was useful.

"I pass." She heard the gasp her friends let out and the disappointed and frightened noise Mokuba made, but there was nothing else she could do this turn.

"Then I win. Blue Eyes White Dragon, destroy her life points, so I can end her life!" Kaiba cackled.

The dragon reared back, like she was charging up for an attack, then froze, her head tilting like she was listening to something. Oneesan's eyes widened as for just a moment she felt the real Seto Kaiba's light, and then the dragon just faded away without launching an attack, leaving her life points untouched and Kuriboh still in her hand.

"Wh...what?" The shadow Kaiba sounded shocked. "Why did my dragon just disappear?!"

"Because it wasn't your dragon, dummy!" Mokuba crowed, his words echoing what Oneesan was thinking. "That dragon belongs to my brother and there's no way it would ever let anyone use it to harm my brother or take what's his!"

"Shut up, brat! I am Seto Kaiba and it should answer only to me!" The shadow creature was furious and the way he slammed a monster down in face down defence mode proved it, though the spirit of the Puzzle could not help but be amused by the childish display of temper. "It doesn't matter. Once this duel is over, I won't need it any more. I can just rip it up if it won't obey me."

And if there was anything, anything at all that was going to convince Mokuba that this was not the deceased spirit of his brother, that was it. Mokuba looked furious as he pointed at the thing trying to kill Yugi. "You are not Oniisan. You might look like him, you might even have some of his memories, but my real Oniisan would never damage one of his own Blue Eyes White Dragons!"

"What do you know of me?" The creature hissed at him. "You barely spent any time around me after Gozaburo took us in. I suffered, I paid in blood to give us the Kaiba name!"

"You think I don't know that? You think I don't know how much Oniisan suffered to keep us in a home instead of the orphanage?!" Mokuba snapped back. "I know everything because I was there, doing everything I could to keep him from breaking! And I know how much his Blue Eyes White Dragons mean to him! The Seto Kaiba I know would kill to protect his Blue Eyes White Dragons. By saying you'd tear one apart, you've lost because you can't fool me any more and now you won't fool anyone else either."

"You brat!" The bodyguard tried to seize Mokuba but Jou and Honda were faster, sending him sprawling with a rather impressive one-two combination that reminded the spirit of the Puzzle why she would never be getting into a fist fight with the pair of them.

"Oneesan, beat this fraud. We have bigger fish to fry." Mokuba had never sounded more like his brother then he did in that moment, and the Pharaoh nodded at him and turned back to her duel, drawing a card and relaxing as she realised she could handle the third dragon.

"Two cards face down, and I summon the Celtic Guardian," Oneesan said, keeping a poker face. "He attacks your face down card." The imp he had placed in face down defence mode died quickly. "Your turn."

"You will pay, Yugi Mutou, for stealing my brother from me, for ruining my company, and for killing me," Kaiba hissed out, "for I summon my third Blue Eyes White Dragon!" She looked highly displeased to be taking the field, and Oneesan could almost believe she had heard what her duelist had said about ripping up her sister dragon. "Destroy her Celtic Guardian!"

The powerful dragon launched her attack, only for it to reflect off of a sparkling barrier that appeared around Oneesan's Celtic Guardian and bounce back. It should have struck the attacker, destroying it, but her opponent flipped something and suddenly the reflected beams of light were being absorbed by tiny vortexes.

"Negate Attack. I saw that trick coming a mile away, Yugi," the shadow Kaiba gloated. "Did you honestly think it would be that easy to defeat me?"

"No." The spirit of the Puzzle smirked back as she drew, lightning and fury telling her what she had drawn before she had even glanced at the card. "Which why I had a second ace in the hole." She flipped her second face down card to reveal Monster Reborn. "And I bring back one of your Blue Eyes White Dragons."

One of the two destroyed dragons appeared on the field. Oneesan was almost convinced it was the second one from the look of loathing she was giving the duelist sitting opposite her.

"That traitor can't outmatch my dragon," Kaiba snapped, glaring daggers at the Pharaoh.

"No, she can't," Oneesan admitted, "not alone, but with help from a friend." She summoned the card she had just drawn, Ojiisan's Blue Eyes White Dragon, who appeared on the field and, much to the spirit's surprise, though she tried not to show it, bowed her head to the other dragon on her side of the field. "You're through. Dragons! White Lightning!"

The pair attacked together, Yugi's going after the opposing dragon, destroying herself in the process, giving Kaiba's the chance to directly attack the opponent, wiping out his life points in one fell swoop. The light burned up the Shadow creature, disintegrating it and leaving no trace behind. Oneesan turned to the thug, who was just picking himself up off the ground, with her Puzzle still glowing.

The man was not stupid. He fled before she could do anything unpleasant to him.

_'I told_ _you_ _you could win without_ _me,_ _'_ Imoto-chan cheered in the back of her mind, making her smile slightly as she collected her three star chips, taking her back up to six, and gathered Kaiba's cards up. She exited the box and offered the deck to Mokuba.

"He's your brother. You should protect his allies," she told him.

The boy nodded solemnly, accepting the stack of cards before hesitantly asking, "Yugi? Can I stick with you? At least until Oniisan comes to get me?"

Yugi took over and smiled at him, a reassuring grin that let the younger Kaiba relax a little. "Of course, what are friends for?"

"Umm, guys?" Amane looked very confused, having been quiet for the entire duel. "What was that?"

"You weren't in Domino before Death-T, were you?" Anzu asked her, sighing when she shook her head. "I have a lot to tell you."

* * *

 

"M...Master Pegasus?" Pegasus frowned as he turned away from the screens showing how the day's duelling was going, to look at a rather scared-looking mook and found himself rather glad it was one of the few local goons he had on his payroll that actually spoke English.

"Yes?" It was only one word, but it was enough to make his men nervous.

"It's Mokuba Kaiba," said the man, a former bodyguard of the younger Kaiba brother if Pegasus remembered correctly, one of his moles inside the company. "He's teamed up with Yugi Mutou."

"And this bothers me why?" Pegasus asked, mostly amused. "Yugi-girl is coming to meet me here at the castle. She'll bring him right back to me."

"But what about the key he swallowed?" The man stammered.

"The key he swallowed on your watch?" The game maker could not resist reminding the man, who flinched, scared. "No longer necessary. They're preparing to cut through through the safe to get what we need as we speak."

"And Seto Kaiba?" the man asked.

"Kaiba-boy won't be a concern for much longer." The CEO of Industrial Illusions shrugged. "Now, is that all?"

"One last thing... That Kaiba, the fake you sent with me to fight Yugi... The one you made with your Eye?" The man's voice shook, like he had been disturbed by the sight of him dragging the darker aspects of Kaiba-boy screaming out of the Shadows. "He kept threatening Yugi's 'Imoto-chan.' I didn't know Yugi had a little sister."

"There's many things you don't know. Dismissed." Pegasus waved it off, waiting until the man was out of the room before calling up the files he had on Yugi. She did not have a little sister. He had certainly not told Kaiba's darker aspects that she did. It had to be something that the boy had known before Yugi-girl had crushed his mind and allowed Kaiba to rid himself of the useless aspects of his personality.

There was nothing in the files he had downloaded from Kaiba Corp on this mysterious younger Mutou sibling, nor had his spies seen another Mutou girl running around the shop, so where had Yugi's little sister come from?

And where was Yugi hiding her?

Such valuable bait could not go to waste after all.

He was distracted from his musing by his phone ringing. It was a private number, which was not that unusual recently. "Pegasus J Crawford speaking."

"I'm coming for you, Crawford, and if you've harmed one hair on my brother's head, you won't live to regret it." Seto Kaiba's voice, cold and hard as ice, answered him.

"Ah, Kaiba-boy, you're awake." He smirked, actually pleased at that news and that Kaiba was still dangerous enough to make a threat like that. "Good, you can join me at my little tournament. Your brother is my guest. Come to Duellist Kingdom and compete, and maybe you can see him again."

"What are you after, you snake?" The demand made the older CEO roll his eyes.

"Honestly, Kaiba-boy, that's no way to speak to a business partner. Don't worry, your brother is unharmed and I've been taking good care of him. He's currently enjoying the tournament on Duellist Kingdom in the company of Yugi-girl." He could just imagine the look of hate and disgust that news would cause. "I assume you'll be joining us soon?"

The call just dropped without an answer, most likely because Kaiba-boy had just worked out what he was up to and did not want to give away that he had.

"So the game truly begins." Pegasus smiled to himself as he picked up his glass of red wine and took a sip as he turned back to the screens. "May the best player win."

 


	9. Darkness Returns

It had only been six months since Death-T, and yet Kaiba was unsurprised to find that the 'Big Five', his key investors and former Department Heads, had turned on him. When the company had gone from a weapons manufacturer to a game business, he had made them redundant and they had only remained on his board of directors because he had no choice. They controlled too many shares to just be 'disposed of'.

With him in a coma and a buyer with very deep pockets interested in the company, it would have been all too tempting for them to screw him over and sell the company out from under him. It was something he would have considered himself. He would be dealing with the issue permanently once he had recovered his brother from Pegasus's grip.

It was infuriating that the security he had assigned to protect his brother had kidnapped him and handed him over to Pegasus. He had thought his background checks had been thorough enough to avoid something like that happening. Being wrong grated on his nerves. As much as his brother occasionally drove him crazy, he would do anything, anything at all, to ensure Mokuba's safety.

And right now, he could not be certain how safe his brother was.

While he could be certain the little Yugi would be protective of Mokuba and 'Oneesan' could be a dangerous creature when cornered, he could not trust them to protect him from Pegasus's scheming. Nor could he trust that his brother would be sane when he reached them. As long as Mokuba was smart about what he said and did, he would be okay, but he had always been impulsive. Seto worried that his brother would earn himself a new Penalty before he could reach the island.

It did not help that he did not like Yugi or her older sister. He could not entirely hate them when he had been the one who had antagonised them, and he was certain that in Oneesan's eyes, her Penalty had been an act of mercy. That did not mean he was entirely grateful for it. Her 'mercy' had resulted in the kidnapping of his brother and an attempt on his life, not to mention the near-crash of his company.

He was not entirely certain why Yugi was on the island. It was possible that it was because she was a strong duelist and worthy of a place in the tournament. He was more certain that it was because, if he was reading the stock prices right, Kaiba Corp. had started crashing after his public defeat at the hands of Exodia. Until then he had had a reputation for being unbeatable and his gaming company had been building off the back of that reputation and the resulting popularity.

Losing would have been bad enough. Losing to a relative newcomer was worse. Losing to a girl... Well, the damage had been drastic, and he would need to defeat her soon in order to claw back some of the dignity her sheer dumb luck had stripped from him. Pegasus clearly planned to crush her before he could do that.

He saw movement in the reflection of his screen and moved quickly enough to avoid the fist that was heading for his face, rolling off the seat and into a fighting position, only to come face to face with a loaded gun.

"Sit down, Kaiba." His supposedly loyal goon smirked at him as Seto retook his seat, his mind racing through escape methods. "You'd have been better off staying in your coma. You wouldn't have felt a thing. Now, however..."

"Let me move my cards." The older Kaiba brother pulled a spare deck out of his inner breast pocket, a plan already formed. "I don't want to get blood on them."

"Lord of the Cards to the end." The mook chuckled. "Now die!"

Seto's timing was perfect, letting a card slip in time to slip into the firing pin, preventing the weapon from firing and giving Seto a chance to disarm the man, earning himself a handgun and allowing him to force the thug out of the helicopter and into the ocean below.

" You, too." He pointed the gun at the pilot, glowering at the man who had not moved to assist him. "I can fly this copter, I don't need you."

The pilot did not even hesitate, reaching under his chair for a pack that Kaiba knew contained an emergency life vest before bailing out. Seto did not care one way or the other. He did not care to protect the life of traitors, but at the same time, he would not go out of his way to kill them either. Their own strength and fortitude would determine whether they survived until a ship passed this way.

In the mean time he settled into the pilot's seat and put himself back on course for Duelist Kingdom.

If he had his way Mokuba would be at his side by sunrise and Crawford would be eating crow by breakfast.

* * *

Yugi was exhausted as she started collecting firewood. It had been a long day and a lot of walking on top of a rather disturbed night's sleep. She wished there was cover she could sleep under, but she was just looking forward to curling up under a tree and getting some well-earned rest. Jou and Mokuba were helping, thankfully, while Anzu, Bakura, and Honda gathered water, and Anzu had some instant hot chocolate in her bag that she was looking forward to drinking.

_'We're going to need to talk to Bakura about her food, aren't we?'_ Yugi asked her elder sister as she gathered up a bunch of twigs.

_'Unfortunately.'_ The spirit of the Puzzle was just as happy about that as she was. _'And we're probably going to have to make a deal with her.'_

Yugi sighed at that. They had no idea what Bakura wanted from them in exchange for a share of the food she had brought with her but there was not really any other choice. Pegasus was not feeding the duelists on the island and Jou had left the food they had packed at home on the kitchen side. If she wanted to eat she was going to have to make a deal with the Queen of Thieves.

"I could pay her." Mokuba's offer startled Yugi, her tired mind wondering if he had somehow read her thoughts, only to hear Jou reply and realise that the pair of them had been talking while she had been distracted.

"You can try. I'm not sure Bakura would be that easy to bribe, though. She's a bit..." Yugi let out an amused sigh when her friend trailed off, looking for the right words. "Challenging."

The younger Kaiba brother frowned. He was not as naïve as Jonouchi seemed to think he was and he had already seen the girl's golden ring hanging from the rope around her neck. "Challenging like Oneesan?" he asked, a little concerned that the other item holder was also possessed.

"Yes, but better looking and with the ability to plan ahead." Yugi jumped and wheeled around at the sound of Ba-Khu-Ra's voice. The Thief Queen looked far too amused at her shock as she emerged from the nearest trees. "The water's back in the clearing. I need to talk to Yugi, so shoo."

Jou hesitated, much to the amusement of the Spirit of the Ring, looking at the girl in question for a 'yea or nay.' When Yugi nodded, he started to herd Mokuba away, only for the boy to shake his head and speak up.

"I don't think we've been introduced," he amused Bakura by stating. "I'm Kaiba Mokuba, Kaiba Seto is my Oniisan. You are?"

"Thief Queen Ba-Khu-Ra." The spirit in question smirked at him. "You'd be wise to stay out of my way."

" Normally, yes. I assume that you're as capable of death and destruction as any other item holder, " Mokuba allowed, staying remarkably calm considering that he had no idea what she was capable of, " but I have a business proposition for you."

Bakura was interested despite herself. The boy's blunt attitude and lack of obvious fear intrigued her. That and she was highly amused at the way Yugi had flinched at his words. "I'm listening."

"You have food. I have money, or I will do when I get back to Japan." He did not mince words, too hungry and tired himself to be bothered with niceties. "You share what you've got with the rest of us for the rest of our time on the island and I'll make it worth your while."

"How much?" the Thief Queen asked, clearly considering it.

"A hundred thousand pounds. British." Mokuba threw the number out there like it was nothing. Yugi's eyes widened as her mind, trained by the conversions she had to do when ordering from abroad for the shop, automatically did a rough conversion to Japanese Yen. That was nearly a million and a half yen. It was an insane amount of money. She was not the only one who thought so. Back during his gang days, robbing English and American tourists had always been a quick path to a substantial amount of cash so Jou was fully aware of how much money was being offered.

Bakura watched the younger Kaiba brother for a few moments, considering him carefully and trying to decide if he was being honest. "You realise if I agree to this, there won't be any backing out? Either you give me the money when we get back to Domino, or I'll Challenge you?"

"I'm not going to default." Mokuba's eyes narrowed, his tone irritated. "Do you want the money or not?"

"Sure." She tossed her bag at Jonouchi, who caught it and staggered, surprised by the weight of the rucksack. "Why don't you two start cooking? I still need to talk to Yugi." When Jou hesitated she huffed, "Privately."

The older teen glanced at his friend and when she nodded, her eyes turning red and her height shifting slightly, he nodded back and herded Mokuba, who was trying not to look too curious, towards the clearing they were planning to camp in.

When they were gone Oneesan turned to look at the Thief Queen. "What do you want, Bakura?"

"So rude." The spirit of the Ring looked amused as she circled the Pharaoh. "I was going to offer my assistance, but I don't know whether I should now."

"Why would you help me?" The spirit of the Puzzle scowled, not trusting the other girl.

"I have no interest in helping you. It's your brat I want to talk to." Bakura's smirk widened as Oneesan's scowl deepened in response to her words.

"You won't hurt her again, I won't let you." She had not forgotten the punch earlier in the day and the Pharaoh had no intention of giving the Thief Queen a chance to hit her sister a second time.

"I'm not planning on punching her again. That would be boring." That earned Bakura a huff. "If you really have to know, the Puzzle will be mine. No one else is allowed to take it from you, so I have absolutely no intention of letting the pair of you walk into this battle with the American jerk without you and your runt coming up with a better idea than just duelling him head on."

The Pharaoh's scowl softened slightly as she tried to hide her confusion. The spirit in front of her was her enemy. They both were fully aware of that. Yet now Bakura expected her to trust her enough to let her help?

_'Anesan? Listening to her won't hurt. Let me talk with her. We don't have to take her suggestion into the duel with us and she does have more experience with the Millennium Items than we_ _do,'_ Imoto-chan's voice sounded in her mind, causing her to pause. Her sister was much more willing to trust than she was, and while she could sense the girl was wary of Bakura, she was willing to at least hear her out.

_'Alright, but if she tries to attack you, I'm Challenging her.'_ She heard her sister's sigh as she stepped back, allowing the girl control of the body once again but did not respond to it other than to stay in the corridor between their soul rooms, close to the exit to the body in case she was needed.

"What's up, Bakura?" Yugi asked, trying to look more with it than she felt.

"So how screwed are you when you're in contact with the Shadows for any length of time?" The Thief Queen's words made her wince and had Oneesan mentally grimacing, wishing she had not said anything to the others on the boat.

"Honestly? Without you using it against me?" Yugi asked, pausing to think when the other item holder nodded. "I don't know. I'm able to use them a little bit, but I've never been out during a Shadow Game before. The closest I've gotten is when Shadi," and she made mental note of Bakura's expression when she said his name, wondering why it was a weird mix of guilt and amusement, "decided to use a shadow based healing spell on me and it knocked me out for a few days."

"Trust him to be incompetent. Being dead hasn't improved his skills any." The Thief Queen snorted, but did not give Yugi a chance to respond before she smirked. "In that case the first thing we need to do is..."

"Yugi?" The pair of them wheeled around to look at the speaker, only to find Mai was watching them, confused.

"Hi, Mai." Yugi heard the exasperated sigh Bakura let out as she greeted the other duelist. "This is my friend, Bakura Amane."

"Friend is a strong word right now." The Thief Queen's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked the other duelist over, clearing trying to decide if she was a threat or not. Much to Yugi's surprise and Oneesan's amusement, Mai did not give an inch, staring back just as coldly as Bakura was staring at her.

"If you're not her friend then I have no interest in you. You're not a duelist either, so you're a waste of my time." At Mai's words Yugi felt Oneesan step into 'ready' position, from where she could slip into control at any moment, and was not surprised in the slightest. Bakura seemed to bristle at the dismissal and for a moment the younger Mutou sister was almost certain she was going to launch a Shadow Game.

Silence ruled the deepening darkness around them for a few brief seconds. Then the Thief Queen smirked and backed up a couple of steps, "Fine. We can conclude our business later, Mutou. I'll go catch up with the boys. The food should be cooking by now."

At Yugi's brief nod the Thief Queen slipped into the darkness, almost seeming to turn invisible as she hit the darkest shadows under the trees. The girl turned back to the other duelist and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about her."

"You have the weirdest friends." Mai grimaced. "I was wondering how you were doing." She held up her glove, revealing eight shining gold stars in the band.

"Jonouchi has eight, too," Yugi said as she held up her own, showing off her six. "But I'll catch up tomorrow."

"I'm surprised." Mai looked it, too. "A duelist of your calibre, lagging behind?"

"There's been... issues." The girl sighed as she felt her older sister back off and relax. "A couple of my Star chips got stolen and I had to win them back, plus people keep avoiding me." Mai let out a sharp laugh at that.

"Yeah, that'll happen when you get a bigger name, don't let it get you down. Just keep playing the sweet and innocent card and the vultures will come. They always do." Yugi was not sure how to respond to that, but luckily she did not have to as the more experienced duelist smiled, an honest, amused smile. "So, do you have actual food or is it all dried travel rubbish?"

"Not a clue," Yugi admitted with a laugh, " but you're welcome to join us either way."

Mai hesitated for a moment, uncertain. Yugi found herself reminded of her own uncertainty whenever she was invited to play games with people or join them at lunch time. She had been alone for so long and the invites before she had solved the Puzzle had been jokes that had hurt so badly that even now, when she knew that people actually liked her and wanted to get to know her, she found it hard to accept those invites.

"I promise, I don't want anything from you," Yugi swore. "Night has fallen, so it's too dark to see our cards properly. For tonight, at least, come and join us as a friend."

There was another moment's hesitation, then the older duelist nodded. "Sure, but if your food is awful then I reserve the right to cook my own."

"That's fair." Yugi nodded, making sure she still had all the wood she had collected. "Come on, camp's this way."

* * *

Bakura was frustrated as she slipped between the trees, the darkness of the ever progressing evening covering her like a shroud, allowing her to move silently and undetected as she moved into a perfect position to spy on the runt and her friend. Or possibly her rival, the Thief Queen was not entirely sure. Not that it mattered. Either way the blonde had interrupted what had actually been an important conversation.

She had not been lying when she had said that she refused to allow the Millennium Puzzle to fall into the hands of the stuck up jerk who was trying to muscle in on her mark. She had spent too many thousands of years waiting for the arrogant cow that lived inside the stupid golden pyramid to be reborn so they could finally finish what they had started so many years ago.

What she had not counted on was how badly the Pharaoh had had to damage her soul in order to seal her and how different their available power would be. In theory it should be great news for her if the Pharaoh could not access all of the immense power she used to possess.

In practise it was impractical.

Without the power she had possessed when she had created the damn seal that kept the Shadows locked up, there was no way for the spirit of the Puzzle to break it. As much as it would please the dark powers she had made a deal with oh so long ago for the Pharaoh to die here and now, it would not help anything. She had no clue how to break the seal and that meant until she got what she wanted, until she got her hands on all seven of the Millennium Items and worked out how to break the seal herself, she had to look after the Pharaoh and her blasted vessel.

Which unfortunately for her included making the sure the Runt survived the upcoming Shadow Game. Something she could have started working on if that other duelist had not shown up.

Yugi needed to be stronger. She was a pure light, just like Ba-Khu-Ra's Landlord was, which meant she was never going to be entirely safe while the Shadows were active. In fact she would always be more susceptible than a normal person. However as she got older and wiser she would get mentally and magically stronger. Plus the more practised she was at handling the darkness, the longer she would last in a Shadow Game.

The problem was there was not much time and if she was honest with herself, the Thief Queen was not the best person to make Yugi stronger. She could not trust herself around the vessel or the spirit that often borrowed it. Not with how much anger she still harboured over the betrayal she had suffered so many millennia ago. A betrayal she still did not know the reason for or understand and probably never would unless the spirit of the Puzzle managed to regain her memories.

Her best option was to put a bunch of obstacles in the Pharaoh's way and let the pair grow through adversity while she got on with her primary objective of obtaining the Millennium Items. She was pretty certain that no matter how good the security was on the castle, she could probably get in, rob the place blind, find the perfect spot to pick off Pegasus after he lost to the Pharaoh and get back by sunrise if she left now. She was tempted to take out the ruler of this little kingdom now, but she just needed to find a way to start building the Runt's strength while she was gone.

Movement in the trees made her pause and turn to see what was daring to stalk their way. She smirked as Yugi and her new friend narrowly avoided being seen by a huge brute of a man wearing a Dueling glove with over 30 star chips attached who seemed to be using the darkness as a cover, much like she was.

Bakura recognised a bounty hunter when she saw one. They were generally huge, deliberately imposing, violent, and dumb enough to be manipulated. She had yet to meet one that could best her. This one would be no different. She could use him as a weapon, pointing him in the right direction to run head first into the Pharaoh and then they would be too distracted to notice her slipping away into the night to explore.

Now... how best to redirect the brute and ensure that the Pharaoh would fight him?

* * *

The food had been surprisingly good and Yugi was thanking whatever Gods would listen that Mai had, somehow, managed to pack a portable shower. The fresh, relatively warm water felt good and the shampoo and conditioner Mai had let her borrow smelt really good. She had not realised how much she needed a few moments of peace and quiet until she had stepped behind the curtain and Mai had chased the boys and Bakura away to wash up the plates and cutlery that she had leant them to eat off of.

Today had been intense. With everything that had happened, she felt a little overwhelmed. Not that she could let it show once she stepped back out into the forest. She had a feeling Mai had known from the way she had been watching her and though she had extended the shower offer to all the girls in Yugi's party, it had been Puzzle holder herself who the Harpy duelist had been looking at when she had spoken. Still Yugi had let the other girls go first, figuring that if there was not enough water, then she could go without. Not that that had been an issue thanks to Mai's bribing the boys with chocolate to haul the water they needed.

"You alright in there, Yugi?" Mai's voice sounded curious. Yugi sighed slightly as she wondered how to answer.

The truth was that she was not. Not really. There was so much riding on the tournament that she was nervous and the Thief Queen hovering around like some kind of vulture, waiting to swoop the moment she showed any signs of weakness was not helping her mood in the slightest. She knew the other item holder, or rather the spirit within her Ring had been trying to help. For purely selfish reasons, but she had been offering her help. That did not help much.

The worst part of it was that Ba-Khu-Ra confused both her and her Anesan. They knew she was dangerous and that if given the chance, she would kill them and take what she wanted. However at the same time they had this odd feeling of sadness and confusion that settled in around her. Much like the way they had 'known' Kaiba could be an ally, they 'knew' that Bakura _should_ be one and the fact the Thief Queen was against them confused them.

The only thing Yugi could think was that, back in Egypt, something had gone very wrong and they had ended up on opposing sides for some reason. Not that Bakura had any intention of filling them in on the specifics.

"Yugi? Did you fall asleep?" Mai called, a little louder, making Yugi giggle slightly.

"No, I'm awake. Sorry, I'll be out in a minute," the girl answered while trying to dry her mess of tricoloured hair.

"It's fine, take your time. You looked like you needed it." Yugi winced at that.

"That obvious, huh?" She sighed as she paused in her actions so she could hear the other duelist properly.

"Eh, I was nervous during my first tournament, too." Yugi blinked at that, surprised. Mai never seemed to get nervous. "I have a question for you, though."

"Oh?" Yugi was curious as she wrapped her hair up in her towel so she could get dressed.

"Why bring Jonouchi?" Mai's question made her frown. "Anzu mentioned he made it here because of you. Why bring an opponent onto the island?"

"Because he's my friend first and a duelist second, " Yugi explained as she pulled on her t-shirt, slipped her belt and deck holster into place, and reminded herself to grab the Puzzle from Jou, who had it because she had not wanted to leave it where Bakura could get her hands on it while she showered. "We look after each other. We both have a lot riding on this tournament, so we both need to be here." She smiled slightly. "And the rest of my friends came along to support without my input."

"It must be nice... having people who care about you enough to get into this sort of trouble." Mai's tone was a little wistful.

"That's what friends do," she told the older duelist as she stepped out from behind the curtain, rubbing the towel, trying to finish drying her hair. "Look out for and stand up for each other." She hesitated briefly, then added , "Mai, I'd like it if... I mean, can we..."

"If you're about to ask if we can be friends, Yugi. Don't." Mai held up a hand. "Tonight we can be allies, but tomorrow the duelling starts again, and while I want an all-female final, if you're in my way I will take you down." Her stare was cold and harsh, but Yugi did not back down, which seemed to cause the ice to melt a little. "I'm going for a walk. Make sure the boys don't steal my sleeping bag."

With that Mai stalked off, leaving Yugi alone, confused and wondering if she had said the wrong thing.

She did not have time to go to find her friends to ask. The sounds of a helicopter landing nearby overwhelmed the peaceful night, interrupting it rudely as the pilot set it down on the other side of the trees.

Yugi hurried to see who it was and froze as Seto Kaiba stepped out, brown haired, white suited, and clearly not happy to see her. She bowed slightly, politely, not wanting to antagonise him on top of everything Pegasus had planned, but she was not surprised by the first words he spoke to her.

"Where is Mokuba?" the CEO snapped out, grabbing a briefcase out of his helicopter before stalking towards her, his gaze searching her briefly and his eyes narrowing when he saw she was not wearing the Puzzle.

"He's with my friends, as is my Puzzle," Yugi answered quickly. "I can take you to him. We might have some leftovers from the meal we had earlier at camp."

"I'm not hungry, I just want my brother." The elder Kaiba's ice cold tone would have made her wince if she had not been able to hear the concern underneath it.

"He's safe, I promise." Yugi tried to sound reassuring. "Follow me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Note: The Ennead series isn't dead. I promise. It's just a little slow between updates. Thank you for sticking with me.


	10. Pitch Black Dread

"Jonouchi!" Anzu called, worried. "Jonouchi!"

"That bloody idiot, " Honda growled as he and the others searched for the blond who had heard something from the direction of the shower Mai had set up for the girls and darted off in that direction. "You bet, he'll have gotten himself into a duel or something and got lost on the way back."

Anzu grimaced but did not say anything, not wanting to worry Mokuba, who had come with them since he did not want to be on his own, campfire or not.

"Bakura's gone, too," the boy pointed out, glancing around, trying not to feel frightened by the fact that one by one the teenagers who had promised to look after him were vanishing.

"She'll be back. She wants Yugi's Puzzle. Plus you owe her money." Honda snorted as he kept searching. "I'm more worried about Jonouchi getting himself knocked out of the competition while we're not looking."

Mokuba would have replied, but he stumbled over something in the dark and nearly fell. Managing to catch himself on the tree next to him, he looked down, only to squeak as he realised he had tripped over a trainer-covered foot. "Honda! Anzu!"

The pair scrambled over, Anzu shining the torch she had brought with her at the figure the younger Kaiba had tripped over, revealing Jonouchi, unconscious in a heap at the bottom of the tree. His duelling glove lay a couple of feet away, emptied of all its stars and the Millennium Puzzle nowhere in sight.

"Jonouchi!" Honda shook his friend hard, causing the other teen to groan and half open his eyes, confused and dazed.

"Honda? What happened?" he asked, leaning back against the tree and wincing as the back of his head rested against it. His eyes widened as he realised he was not wearing his duelling glove. When Anzu handed him the empty glove, his eyes widened and he let out an angry growl. "That absolute bitch!"

"Who?" Anzu asked.

" Bakura, " Mokuba guessed before Jou could answer.

The blond nodded sharply. "She asked if she could borrow my Star Chips. Of course I said no. I ain't trusting her with nothing. Next thing I know I'm waking up at the bottom of a tree." He paused and then quickly patted himself down. "Shit, Yuge's gunna freak."

"She took the Puzzle, too?" Anzu asked, looking angry herself when he nodded. "That's cheating though, right? Didn't she say she had to win it from Yugi?"

"We can't trust anything that comes out of her mouth, " Honda pointed out. "She's the enemy. She wants us dead."

"I need to find her." Jou got to his feet with a hand from Anzu, clearly fuming. "If I'm caught by one of Pegasus's goons without my Stars, I'm out and there goes my chance to save Shizuka's eyesight."

Mokuba looked both curious and confused by that statement but Honda and Anzu nodded their understanding, Honda turning back towards where their camp was as he did so. "Let's grab our stuff and start searching."

* * *

Yugi shivered as she walked through the forest. The warm summer night had gone icy cold in the deep, almost black darkness caused by the trees obscuring the night sky. She rubbed her arms, trying to get some warmth into them.

Kaiba let out a soft snort as he walked alongside her, making her mentally wince. He seemed completely unaffected by the cold, and the complete silence surrounding them did not appear to unnerve him at all. If anything, the quick glance that he shot her way was derisive and ill amused.

She tried not to let it bother her. She was cold and tired, and the headache beginning to press on her temples was not helping. She just wanted to reunite the Kaiba brothers and go to sleep, and the sooner they got back to camp, the sooner that could happen. Still, there were things she wanted to say. She hesitated only a moment before starting to speak. "Kaiba? You don't have to go after him alone. He's taken someone important to me, too."

"I don't need your help, Yugi, " Kaiba huffed at her, seeming as on edge as she felt. "You've helped enough already." She winced at the verbal jab, "Once Mokuba is safe, I'm going to destroy Pegasus, and you and Oneesan should stay out of my way."

"We can't, " Yugi admitted, trying to make him understand. "Pegasus has our Ojiisan. We have to fight him if we're going to..." Her eyes widened as she felt something shift sideways and the air grew colder still, enough that her breath formed steam in front of her. Kaiba's momentary hesitation told her that he had felt it, too, not that she let that distract her as she called, "Bakura! If it's you, I thought we had a truce on."

Her voice seemed to be absorbed by the darkness surrounding them, the unnatural silence absorbing all sound as it crept towards them. As it got closer, Yugi's headache started to pound and the very air felt sharp, like breathing drew in knives, not air. She barely bit back a whimper as she turned towards what felt like the focus point for the shadows around them, not wanting to seem weak in front of the CEO, but he put himself between her and it, almost instinctively shielding her with his own body.

"Show yourself," he demanded, his whole body frozen into position, only the dragon's steam of his breath in the ice cold air showing he was not just a statue.

Yugi felt the attack coming before either of them could see it. She body checked the taller teen, sending him tumbling to the floor, only to take the brunt of it herself. The bolt of darkness struck her hard and knocked her through the gap in the the trees behind them, into the hardened glass of a Duel Box that had been hidden amongst the foliage. Her head hit the glass, stunning her and sending her crashing to the floor as the world swam around her.

"Yugi!" If she had not been so busy trying to focus and force herself onto her feet, she would have been surprised at Kaiba's tone as the shadows swirling around them focused on her, cutting her off from any chance of escape as they closed in, forming a dome of dark energy that she could feel was the same power that both Oneesan and Bakura used for their Shadow Games. However, the world would not stop spinning, she could not catch her breath, and, as a huge brute of a man stepped out of the darkness, clutching her precious Millennium Puzzle, she realised that she was in deep trouble.

"Mutou Yugi, why don't we play a game?"

"G...give me my Puzzle, " Yugi demanded as she pushed herself to her feet, using the box behind her as a support to stay upright as she glared at the brute, a huge man, much older than she, and almost twice the size of Jou. He was dressed in a jacket in a blue so dark it was almost black, the initials P.K. visible, and his black hair wiry and wild and mostly trapped under a skull cap with the kanji for 'yami', which meant darkness. Those things barely held her attention for more than a second, though. The huge band on his duelling glove almost filled with stars told her that this was most likely one of the eliminators that Dinosaur Ryuzaki had mentioned, and the fact that he had her Puzzle meant that he had already gone through Jou. "And g...give me my friend's Star Chips back."

"Your friend?" He smirked. "Which one of the many duelists I've destroyed tonight was your friend? If you mean the boy I collected his from..." He swung the Puzzle back and forth on its chain. "He was worthless and I took what I wanted from him. Just as I'll take it from you."

"A...all my Star Chips for all of his AND my Puzzle," she challenged, barely staying upright but unwilling to back down.

"You only have six Stars." The man smirked. "But your life is valuable. The bounty for the Player Killer who ends your run of luck is enough to retire on. End your life and it's worth even more. Plus this little trinket... " He waved the Puzzle in front of her and she tried to snatch it from him, only to be too slow. " ...allowed me to sneak up on all of you and do things I never imagined possible... I don't want your Star Chips, Yugi, but when I win, you die, and this, this stays with me."

"And when I... I win," Yugi did not hesitate, unsure she could handle a Shadow Game or why the Puzzle had turned on her but knowing she could not let Jou or Oneesan down and refusing point blank to bend to this bully, "Y...you give me my Puzzle and my friend's Star Chips."

"Agreed." The Player Killer gestured to the box and Yugi stumbled inside, glad to be taking a seat. The thug was still smirking as he sat opposite her and slid the Puzzle across the table. Yugi went to grasp it, only for him to jerk it back before she could do more than get a hand on it.

The contact, however brief, allowed her to connect for a split second with Oneesan, who sent apology, concern, and the sense of bring trapped with no control over what was going on. As worried as she was about her elder sister, it reassured Yugi to know that this Shadow Game was not the Pharaoh's choice and that, though she would have to confirm whether she was right with Bakura later, it was the shadows sensing his dark heart and desire for power that was allowing him to make this Challenge.

"Frightened, Yugi?" the brute taunted as Yugi's shaking hands nearly dropped the deck she was trying to shuffle.

"N...never. You're nothing m...more than a bully," she retorted as she managed to finish shuffling and drew her opening hand. The monsters within, her Celtic Guardian and her Kuriboh, both felt worried and angry. While it was new for them to respond to her, it helped her confidence a lot. She was in serious danger and she was hurting, but she was not alone, her cards were supporting her. "C... Celtic Guardian, in attack mode!"

The green-clad elf knight appeared on the field, stern and furious at her opponent, but his arrival heralded a jolt of pain in Yugi's heart that ripped a pained whimper from her and she only remained sitting upright because of the hand she slammed onto the table and the elbow she locked into place to stop it buckling. Her 1400 attack point monster looked concerned as he looked back over his shoulder at her, but the Player Killer's dark laugh forced her to look up, away from the elf.

She could feel the Shadows swirling around them and their anger at both herself, for some unknown reason, and the man opposite her as he spoke, "Too much for you, Yugi? It's only going to get worse."

She tried to glare at him, but he was unfazed as he drew, his hand shaking slightly as he summoned his Dark Chimera to the field, the night giving it a field power bonus, taking it up to 2093 attack points. The same sudden pain seemed to hit him the moment it appeared on the field, and the Player Killer's reaction to it made her realise that he was in pain, too. He was not being protected by the Puzzle or the Shadows around them.

The Shadow Game was active because she was being challenged for the Puzzle and the Shadows were testing this man by letting him use them, but she had not lost ownership yet. If she was right the shadows would be infinitely more interested in any battle for a Millennium Item than they would a normal duel, but it would have to be fair.

"Dark Chimera! Rip that puny elf to pieces!" The fiend launched across the table. While her guardian did try to defend himself, the fire the chimera breathed caused the elf to shatter, and the backlash of magical energy as her life points dropped by 693 caused enough pain to nearly render Yugi unconscious. As her life points dropped to 1307 she tried to hold herself upright, knowing that her friends were relying on her, despite the fear that would not leave that she would let them down because she would not be strong enough. "Your move, Yugi."

It took her a moment to draw. Her vision blurring meant that she had to work out which deck she was supposed to be drawing from, but when she did, she was rewarded with the Dark Magician, who felt furious and worried. She almost summoned him but worry made her pause. If she had struggled to keep the Celtic Guardian on the field, how would she manage with the much stronger Dark Magician?

A pulse of care and support came from the card and she nodded without thinking. She needed to summon him to keep winning. There were no other options, and once he was on the field, she could use one of the cards in her hand to support him.

"D...Dark Magician! In attack mode!" The purple-clad spellcaster appeared, twirling his staff before pointing it at the Dark Chimera. Yugi took a sharp breath as the pain grew worse, not wanting to cry out in front of the Player Killer and give him any more satisfaction. The night granted her spellcaster an attack bonus, taking him up to 3250. "I play one c...card face down and then, Dark Magician, D...Dark Magic A...Attack!"

The magician did not hesitate, blowing away the chimera and ripping away 1157 life points , bringing the opposing player down to 843. His pained grunt confirmed in her mind that he was hurting, too, and all she had to do was outlast him or win. She was almost certain he was going to cheat. Oneesan had once told her that the Shadows brought out a person's true nature, and this Player Killer did not seem the type to play fair, but she could not rely on that.

Still she knew something was not going according to his game plan when he scowled and checked the equipment, like something had not come into play. Then it hit her. The Shadows would have ensured a fair game, so whatever dirty tricks that would normally activate when he walked into a Duel Box would not have come online like he had expected them to. She was hoping that meant that this duel could be ended quickly, before she was overwhelmed by the dark magic around them.

"Don't think one lucky move is going to save you, Yugi. Your life ends tonight," he growled at her, clearly not quite together. "I summon my Castle of Dark Illusions, in defence mode."

Very briefly Yugi got to see a floating stone castle with a defence score that grew to 2509, just protecting it from the Dark Magician's attack and then the opposing field was flooded with darkness, cutting her view of the entire opposite side of the Duel Box. Her Dark Magician muttered something under his breath that sounded rude, not that she could understand his language, as his attack points dropped back to 2500 and her opponent sniggered.

"You can't win now, Yugi. You won't be able to see my monsters, but they will rip yours apart and the darkness spread by the Castle of Dark Illusions means that your monsters can't get power from the night or the field, only mine can. Make your final move." The voice bounced around the box, seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time and Yugi's shaking suddenly was not just the cold and the pain. Fear made a very real appearance as she realised her hope for a short, fast game had suddenly gone out the window, and she was barely holding on as it was.

She drew and placed a card face down in her magic and trap card zone , building up her defences since she could not try to attack the castle. The Dark Magician glanced over his shoulder at her, worried. She nodded to him, trying to be reassuring. She had to stay strong. She had to. For everyone. "Y...your t...turn."

She could not see what he summoned into the black miasma in front of her, nor did he tell her, but she saw the attack coming before it could strike her Magician and activated "Magical Hats!"

The trap activated, hiding her magician underneath one of four hats and the attack, thankfully, struck an empty hat, giving Yugi breathing room.

"Your pathetic hats won't save you for long, Yugi," the voice taunted. "I'll destroy them and the magician you're hiding, and then, then you die."

"Y...you should..." A sudden, severe light-headedness and the world attempting to fade around her caused Yugi to stop and grasp the duelling table. She knew the feeling, she had been knocked unconscious enough times by bullies to know when her body was trying to pass out on her, but she could not let it happen. She knew that if she lost consciousness she would never wake up again. The Player Killer would murder her. But she was not ready to die by any stretch of the imagination.

"You're fading, Yugi," the brute taunted through the darkness as she tried to pull herself together. "You can't win. Accept your fate."

"N...never..." she forced out, drawing, "Y...you're just a c...coward. A...attacking from the darkness. Y...you're just one m...more bully and I'll n...never back down from a b...bully, ever a...again. I'm going to s...stand up to you!"

With that she activated her Swords of Revealing Light from her hand, revealing the opposing side of the field and draining the field boost they got from the darkness, just as her Dark Magician had had it ripped from him.

The Player Killer looked furious as her Dark Magician blasted away his King of Yamimakai, ripping away another 500 lifepoints from his score, taking him down to just 343.

"N...next turn, y...your castle falls, " Yugi promised him, noting that his shaking was almost as violent as hers now and, if looks could kill, she would be very, very dead.

The Player Killer could not understand what was happening. She was weak, fading, there was no way she could have turned it around, and yet here she was, almost about to win and he could not comprehend how. What was worse was that as he drew, he got his Reaper of the Cards, which would have allowed him to destroy any face down magic or trap cards, but she had played the swords from her hand. There would have been no way to stop it. Somehow her light was burning through his shadows and he did not get it.

He had ripped through hundreds of duelists before her and he had never once failed to intimidate before. Every opponent he had faced had been reduced to panic by his darkness strategy. How was she managing to stay so calm?

It had to be that the exhaustion and pain that were trying to drag him down were throwing him off of his game. He had made a mistake by making a deal with the white haired bitch who had promised him power beyond his imagining and the ability to hunt duelists forever in exchange for her taking the eight Star Chips from the boy who had been sprawled on the floor.

Anger flooded through him. Yugi was going to die. He was going to ensure that and retire on the money that her death would earn him and once she was dead, he was going to hunt down the cow who had promised him power and kill her, too.

He got to his feet and before Yugi could react he had her pinned to the back wall by her throat, the girl's struggles pathetic compared to his strength. "Screw the duel, I'll just kill you now."

Yugi could not breathe. The hands around her neck were so tight that she could not even squeak, so she had no way to warn the man that the shadows had taken his words and actions as cheating and were coalescing behind him, sharp purple eyes glowering at the thug's back. The creature drove an arm through the Player Killer, eliciting a scream from the man and making him let go of her.

She slumped to the floor, gasping for breath, the air suddenly fresh and just cool, rather than the painfully sharp cold it had been before. Her eyes closed, protecting her from seeing what the darkness did to the cheat and she did not reopen them until the noises had stopped.

When she did finally open them again, it was to an empty duel box except for the gauntlet the thug had been wearing, their decks, still spread across the table, and her Puzzle, which she put on. The moment the chain fell into its proper place, she felt something unlock and her sister's presence rushed into her mind, frightened and worried. _'Imoto_ _-chan!'_

_'I'm okay, Anesan.'_ Yugi was not sure if it was a lie or not. She was still light-headed and she had a horrible feeling she was going to hit the deck soon, but she was alive, she had won, technically, and as she gathered eight Star Chips from the goon's gauntlet, she knew that she could get Jou back into the tournament.

_'Let me take over for a bit.'_ Her sister pushed as she realised that the forest was not as pitch black as it had been on her way back to camp and that she could see the stars through the canopy, suggesting the Player Killer had been stalking them for a while before he had attacked. _'You need to rest.'_

_'I can rest once we've gotten these back to Jou.'_ Yugi shook her head and then wished she had not as the world spun.

"Yugi!" She stood up a little too quickly and had to use the table for support when she heard Anzu calling he,r but she was upright in time to see Mokuba tackle-hug his brother and burst into relieved tears as Honda stayed close enough to watch their backs.

Kaiba hugged his brother tightly as Jou and Anzu moved towards the duel box. Yugi tried to give the brothers some privacy by focusing on her friends, offering the handful of Star Chips to Jou.

"Yuge?" He looked shocked.

"We got jumped by one of those Eliminators that Ryuzaki warned us about, the one who attacked you, " Yugi explained, still holding out the eight golden stars, though her arm was shaking badly. "But I got your Star Chips back."

"Yuge, Bakura took the Star Chips, not some Eliminator, so I can't take them." Jou shook his head, pushing the hand back towards Yugi.

"Yugi." Before she could try and get an explanation, Kaiba called her name and she shakily stepped out of the box to face him. "I believe I owe you a debt. Mokuba informed me that you risked your life to protect him." He did not mention the blast that she had taken for him but there was more respect in his gaze than there had been earlier.

"Anyone would have done it." Yugi shook her head, then stumbled slightly, only not losing her footing entirely because Oneesan supported her mentally and Jou subtly rested a hand on her back, letting her lean on it, which was great for her because she refused point blank to pass out in front of Kaiba. "We could work together, to stop Pegasus and get back what's important to us."

"I will not rely on anyone else to protect my company, Yugi." Kaiba shook his head. "I am going to destroy Crawford for what he's done. You watch me." There was a moment's hesitation, then, "However, I will not risk Ototo's safety by taking him with me. I will pay you upon our return to Japan, but I require that you continue to protect him."

Mokuba looked happy at Kaiba actually referring to him as 'little brother, ' but Yugi took a sharp breath. This was huge. Kaiba was trusting her with Mokuba's safety. Still... "I don't require any money. Mokuba is a friend. We'll meet you at the castle? I have to face Pegasus to free my Ojiisan's soul."

"I'll leave him alive enough for your duel, " Kaiba agreed before hugging Mokuba again. "Stay with Yugi and stay safe."

"Be careful, Oniisan." Mokuba's quiet murmur only just reached Yugi's ears.

"I'll see you soon, " Kaiba promised, before nodding to the group and stalking towards the castle.

The moment he moved out of sight, Yugi passed out.


	11. Daybreak

Mai was fuming as she reached camp, only to find her stuff was gone, the campfire was dying down, and Yugi and the others seemed to have moved on.

She should have known better than to trust the group. She had been stupid to think that she would come back to the campsite to find them waiting and looking after her things. Now she had lost her food, her clothes, and her equipment. She was just glad that she had thought to take her deck with her, just in case someone had challenged her in the dark.

When she got a hold of Yugi and her band of misfits she was going to...

"You're sure Yuge's okay?" Her train of thoughts derailed as she heard Jonouchi's voice heading towards the camp, his tone worried.

"Imoto-chan's resting now, but she will be." Mai frowned at the female voice replying. It sounded like Yugi's but older. "I'm going to go and look after her once we get back to camp. She burned up almost all her mental and magical energies during that Shadow Game and I don't want to use up the last of them by keeping control of..." The group entered the small clearing, Honda carrying Mai's things with him. Yugi trailed off when she saw Mai.

Except in this light, Mai could see it was not Yugi. The red eyes reflected the fire's glow differently and the extra inches and the heeled boots told her that this was not the same Yugi who had come out of the shower with purple eyes and a pair of trainers.

"Mai, hi." Anzu sighed, quickly coming to the front of the group as Mokuba flopped down at the fire and loaded it up with fresh sticks. "Sorry, we..."

"Don't. If you're going to lie to me, don't even bother. Just give me my things and I'll leave." Mai's tone made Anzu wince and Jou grimace but it was Oneesan who spoke up.

"I got attacked after you left." The Pharaoh spoke bluntly, the body too tired for her to waste time with wording her way around the situation. "My friends didn't want to leave your stuff to get stolen when they came looking for me."

That made sense and helped ease her anger, but she hesitated for a moment before asking, "And who are you?"

That caused a reaction. Mokuba's gaze snapped to her, Anzu froze, and the boys looked to each other and then to the spirit of the Puzzle, but the girl's gaze was fixed on Mai. "You've noticed."

"Red eyes, boots, two extra inches." Mai counted on her fingers. "You're not Yugi. Who are you and where is she?"

Mokuba sniggered as the girl opposite her looked down, confused, briefly looked like Yugi again, trainers and all, before the red eyes and boots were back and she face palmed.

Mai's eyes widened briefly at the display but she did not show her unease otherwise as she demanded, "If you don't tell me what's going on right now..."

Oneesan sighed. When she had first awoken, she had experimented with the clothes and jewellery her sister had owned until she had found a look she liked and had the impression she desired. She had based the illusion she put up when she took control of the body on that look. She had been using it for so long now that it was an instinctual change. She had not even considered the fact that Imoto-chan had left those boots behind when she had come to the island, yet alone factored it into her illusion because she did not have to think to put it up any more.

"I'll explain, but you'll need an open mind," the Pharaoh told Mai, wishing Imoto-chan was awake enough to deal with this for her. She hated having to explain herself or her magic. In fact, if she could help it, she did not really want to deal with people outside her group of friends, but she had blown her cover and her little sister was recovering from the game. She did not have a choice.

"I'm listening." Mai's glower did not ease up.

"We should probably sit down for this," Jou suggested, knowing Oneesan would not want to tell Mai about herself and that if they screwed it up, Mai would think they were crazy. "It's a long story."

"I'm not moving until I get an explanation." Mai shook her head, the movement sharp and furious.

"I'm not Mutou Yugi," Oneesan started, then hesitated. "Well, not technically."

"Stop stalling." Mai's tone was sharp and impatient.

"It's not simple to explain." Oneesan grimaced, not quite sure how to explain and not wanting to push Mai away when her little sister had a lot of respect for her and wanted to be her friend. "Even we don't understand everything."

"If you're not Yugi, who are you? What are you?" Mai's question made her wince, remembering the moment Jou had asked her almost exactly the same thing.

"She's an ancient spirit trapped within the Millennium Puzzle who takes over when Yugi is in over her head or hurt." Mokuba, of all people, spoke up, getting irritated himself. "I'm tired, tonight has sucked, can we just get story time over with and go to sleep?"

"She's a WHAT?" Mai demanded, staring at him. "Things like that aren't real." She turned back to Oneesan with a glare. "You're all making fun of me. I want to talk to Yugi."

"You can't, Imoto-chan was attacked with magic. I don't know how long it's going to take her to..." She trailed off as exhaustion and concern passed over the link from her little sister, who had woken due to the turbulence of her emotions.

_'Anesan? What's wrong?'_ The girl's soft, sleepy voice sounded in her mind.

_'Mai figured me out. She wants to talk to you, but you're...'_ Reassurance and care caused her to pause as she felt Imoto-chan step forward. _'Are you sure?'_

_'I need to do this. I don't want to lose Mai as a friend.'_ Oneesan sighed and stepped back, allowing Yugi control of the body. The illusion fell with her retreat. Immediately Mai looked torn between confusion and anger, but Yugi smiled at her. "Hi, Mai."

"Are you really Yugi?" Mai demanded. "And what the hell is going on?"

"It's me. I promise." She tried to ignore the way her friends were watching her like she was made of glass as she sat down by the freshly stoked fire. "I'll explain everything, come and sit down. It's a long story and we should get comfortable... Anzu, can you make some more hot chocolate?"

"S-sure." Anzu nodded, not quite sure Yugi knew what she was getting into by telling someone outside of their friendship group. Jou and Honda sat by Yugi, one on either side, backing her up, as Mai sat opposite, still glaring. Anzu made up five cups of hot chocolate, briefly wondering where Bakura had gone as Yugi started.

"Anesan, the spirit inside my Millennium Puzzle, is part of me. Just like I'm a part of her," Yugi told Mai. "We're both Mutou Yugi. Apparently we ripped our soul in two over three thousand years ago."

"That's not possible." Mai pursed her lips as she took the drink from Anzu, watching Yugi like a hawk.

"I didn't think so either." Yugi's honesty and short giggle made Mai let out an amused snort. "But suspend your disbelief for a minute and listen? Please?"

"I'd have left already if I wasn't willing to listen," the older, more experienced Duellist pointed out. "Besides, I know what I saw. You're two people and the other you wears boots."

"Two halves of the same person," Yugi corrected her and then sighed. "And I refuse point blank to wear those boots because I like my feet without blisters, no matter how much Anesan likes them."

"Anesan?" Mai frowned again, trying not to be amused by Yugi's comment.

"That's what I call her. The others call her Oneesan. We both go by Mutou Yugi, because she can't use our ancient name. We were a Pharaoh back in Ancient Egypt but we gave up our name and ripped our soul in two to save the country. Without our name, we can't get to the afterlife, so Anesan got trapped in the Puzzle and I got reborn. She takes over when I'm in trouble or hurt and because we're two halves of the same whole, we do almost everything together." She paused. "You don't have to believe me right now. I know I wouldn't. I only believe it now because I'm living it."

"So you're cheating?" Mai asked, deciding that as mind games went, this was a pretty good one, though it reached a little too far. Yugi's confused look made her clarify. "Well, either you're using some sort of trick to make yourself look scarier as a mind game, or you're two people duelling against one. Which is it?"

"Actually, normally we only duel together if we're in danger." Yugi shook her head. "We won't cheat. Our magic wouldn't let us even if we were inclined to, and the illusion Anesan puts up when she's in control is instinctual now. I'm not sure she could turn it off long term if she wanted to."

"Magic? Illusions? Seriously?" Mai snorted.

Yugi grimaced briefly, realising she was going to have to show Mai something magical if she was ever going to believe her. She took a deep breath and focused the same way she had during her duel with the Player Killer as she drew, smiling when her deck gave her Kuriboh, who felt warm, like a hug from a friend.

"Kuriboh, I summon you," she called, hoping it would work as she held out the card for Mai to see and tried to call the monster the same way she had during the duel.

She saw the fuzzball appear in front of her with a happy coo, then suddenly her mind went completely blank, her head felt like it was floating miles above her location, her world swam, and she felt herself falling sideways, the Kuriboh chirping at her urgently as her eyes closed. She felt herself fall into someone's arms, and as she slipped unconscious she heard Anesan calling her but she was too far gone to answer.

* * *

"What are you up to, Yugi-girl?" Pegasus J. Crawford asked the cold night air as he watched the camera footage one of his forest Battle Boxes had sent in and saw the girl in question take eight Star Chips from the duelling glove belonging to the Player Killer of Darkness, Panik.

The recording had already been useful. Back when he had first gotten the Millennium Eye he had tested it and its limitations. While everything you went through during a Shadow Game looked and felt very real, the magic affected the mind and the soul. It was not visible to cameras, nor to anyone who was not sensitive to it. That meant his footage could not show him what Yugi and Panik were seeing, but he could see its affects on them.

He had been surprised to see Panik with Yugi's Puzzle, but it was interesting to note that Yugi had rapidly declined during the Shadow Game, despite being able to hold her own perfectly well against him in their game. Not that the thug she had been duelling had been faring much better before his cheating had won Yugi more than enough Star Chips to get herself and her friend into the castle. It was likely the man had not known how to properly handle the darkness and the magic had just responded to an Ownership Challenge. Pegasus himself had been through a couple, and the Shadows had always been more dangerous when called during them.

He was much more interested in the fact that Yugi had taken eight Star Chips and that she had nearly passed out during the duel than he was in the Challenge itself. While he fully planned to avoid using the dark powers of the Eye to call up a Shadow Game when he challenged her for the Puzzle, it was good to know that should she, miraculously, get around his mind reading, he could use the Shadows against her and she would fall. He could make a game last much longer than a foolish thug, and unlike Panik he would not cheat.

He frowned and access the camera network that laced the island, only to get frustrated when he found that somehow Yugi and her motley crew had managed to find one of the blind spots on the island to make camp, meaning that he could not see what had happened before the duel. It was entirely his own fault. He had not wanted his Eliminators on camera when they struck. It would have been horrible publicity if someone had gotten into the files and sent footage of them strong-arming Duelists into duels.

Still, if he was right, Yugi would throw a duel to Jonouchi and he would soon have two of the four finalists knocking at his door.

He was not sure it was a bad thing. While he planned to pit Yugi Mutou against Seto Kaiba at some point, he currently did not have any leverage to use against Kaiba. Not while Mokuba was with Yugi. Once the boy was brought back to the castle, he could easily use him as bait for his brother. Until then he was tempted to just throw Kaiba a handful of Star Chips and throw him to the wolves that were the competing Duelists and see if he survived. If he did, then having Yugi duel him in the finals, which would be recorded for viewing by the Big Five and other investors, would be better proof that whichever one Pegasus inevitably duelled against was the stronger of the two. If he did not, then that was one less problem he had to worry about.

And while Kaiba was fighting his way into the castle, he could focus on the problem that was Yugi Mutou and her mysterious sister. His background checks had not, at any point, revealed that she had a sibling. As far as he knew her only living relative was in fact the grandfather whose soul he currently had imprisoned in a card. He had sent men to her house to see if they could find anyone or anything, but the sickly boy who had been there to feed Yugi's stupidly fluffy cat had informed them that Yugi was an only child and she was being raised by her grandfather.

He was beginning to wonder if it was something to do with the Puzzle. There was an evil intelligence within the Millennium Items, and it was possible that that intelligence was 'Oneesan' while Yugi herself was the little sister. It would explain why she had declined so rapidly without the Puzzle.

He called up the footage from the duel against the Dark Kaiba that he had dragged out of the Shadows to try to kill the girl and the footage from Yugi's duel against Dinosaur Ryuzaki, ran them side by side and watched carefully, trying to work out whether there was a difference between the two. The false CEO had clearly referred to his Yugi as 'Oneesan' in front of Pegasus's henchman but the cameras could not detect any physical difference between her and the Yugi that had offered the Runner Up of the Japanese Regionals a good game and shaken his hand. The body language was different but it was entirely possible it was because of the differences in the situation.

Perhaps, once she was inside his castle, he would finally work out the mystery. It was almost worth her managing to skip a day of the competition by earning her Star Chips early to be able to find out if there was two Yugis. Because if there were, it would make earning her Puzzle more difficult, not that anyone could shield their mind from him. No matter which Yugi was in control, as long as they knew what was in their hand and on the field, he would be able to read it.

Of course, once Yugi and her friends were inside the castle, there was another threat to be concerned about. He was aware Amane Bakura was on the island with Yugi, and he had done rather thorough background checks on her, just as he had all of Yugi's friends. He knew she had left a trail of comatose children around her age after a trip to Egypt with her deceased father that had not ended until she had become friends with Yugi Mutou. There was no way the girl did not carry one of the other Millennium Items, and that made her a threat.

All his research had told him that it was the powers of the Puzzle that he needed in order to open the Gates of the Afterlife, but whatever item Bakura held, he did not want to Challenge her until he held the magic he needed. In fact he did not wish to fight her at all. Some sense of 'warning' from his Millennium Eye was telling him that should he get into a battle with her he would, most likely, lose.

He would not normally care. The Eye had been wrong before, after all. But he was too close to obtaining the key to rip open the Doors of the Afterlife and getting his darling Cecelia back that he did not want to threaten anyone he did not need to. He knew he could not keep her out of the castle. Normally he would have had his men refuse entry to anyone without enough Star Chips, but he needed Mokuba to enter the castle, which meant allowing Yugi's friends as well.

Calling up the file he had on her, he scoured it for anything he could use to avert a battle and grinned as he found something interesting. Amane and Yugi did not see eye to eye. There was clear evidence of the pair openly bickering in public. Depending on how bad that disagreement was, he could bet that, with the right deal, he could avert a crisis by offering her something she wanted in exchange for something he wanted.

He was just about to close the window when he heard a chuckle behind him. A young woman's voice spoke up in English, "Anything interesting, Crawford?"

He wheeled around to find the girl herself stood behind him, looking smug. "Amane Bakura! How did you get in here?"

"Your security sucks. Enough Star Chips and you can get anywhere. Get better guards and less ridiculous locks if you don't want competent people walking through your defences." She sniggered. "Also you haven't earned the right to my given name, and I'm not as easy going as Yugi. So it's Bakura to you."

"What do you want with me?" Pegasus demanded, wary.

"You're looking to steal something I've already claimed. I'm within my rights to Challenge you here and now, and I was going to, Yugi's grandfather be damned," she told him bluntly, "but I found something interesting in your tower."

His face went white as she waved a diary at him. The one from his tower room. The diary that he wrote in when his grief threatened to sweep him away, that contained the letters and pictures for Cecelia. "Give that back!"

She chucked it to him and he caught it, clutching it close to his chest. "I'm warning you, Crawford. I am only holding back because you're not the only one who's trying to save their family."

That made sense. His background checks had revealed that her father had died on a trip to Egypt two years after her mother and her brother had died in a car accident. Of course she would understand missing family. "We could work together to open the Gates," he offered. "We could both get what we wanted."

"I'm listening."

* * *

It was just beginning to get light again and Jou was wide awake.

The eight Star Chips in his gauntlet felt heavy as he watched his friend. The steady rise and fall of Yugi's chest reminded him that despite the fact she had fought a very dangerous duel and then overstretched herself further actually summoning a real Kuriboh, she was still alive and well. Still the fact that another Imori situation had occurred was not lost on him. Once again Yugi had endangered herself to help him and Oneesan. At least this time he knew she had been hopeful she could survive it, unlike the Dragon Cards incident.

She mumbled in her sleep and curled tighter around her Puzzle, frowning slightly, clearly dreaming, and the sight made Jou feel awful. She had trusted him to look after her big sister while she had taken a shower, and he had failed. Big time. To lose his Star Chips had been bad enough. Without them he was worthless to Shizuka. To lose the Puzzle too, especially after he had promised Yugi he would take good care of it...

He shook his head slightly, trying to clear the negativity out, but it hung over him like a big black cloud of gloom. He did not know what he was doing here. He was not the hero he made himself out to be to his sister. He would not even have been a Duellist on this island without Yugi's assistance. To have repaid her so poorly rankled him.

Oneesan had said that Yugi would be fine, and he had to trust her judgement, but he could hear the bite in her tone and he was not certain whether it had been him she had been mad at. It was easily a fifty-fifty split between him and Bakura. If the Thief had not knocked him out to steal his Star Chips, Panik would not have gotten his hands on the Puzzle and the Shadows would not have played stupid beggars and let the man Challenge Yugi. However, if he had been smart enough to stay where the others could see him, Bakura would not have had the chance to jump him in the first place. If she was ticked at him, it was completely understandable. He was damn mad at himself, too.

He needed to be better. Stronger. Smarter. He could not keep letting down the most important people in his life if he was ever going to be someone worth anything to them. Both Shizuka and Yugi were relying on him to help them, and he could not, would not, let them down again. It was why he had accepted the Star Chips despite the fact that it had been Bakura who had taken his, rather than the Player Killer who had attacked Yugi. If he had no Star Chips, he was out of the competition and he would have lost his chance to save Shizuka's eyesight.

Still, he did not feel like he deserved them. While he did not have the full details, Oneesan had told them enough from what she could draw from her sleeping sister's memories to know Yugi had paid for these Star Chips in pain and fear. She deserved them more than he did.

He was tempted to offer her four of them and get her into the castle safely so she could rest but he did not want to wake her. Especially when he was pretty damn certain she would not accept his offer. Not to mention he had a sneaking suspicion that Oneesan would have his guts for garters if he disturbed her little sister.

He knew he needed to get back to sleep. His mind was wandering, and the couple of hours he had managed would not be enough to sustain him through a day of duelling. Not after how little sleep they had gotten on the boat. However, sunrise was coming fast and they would need to be moving quickly once it came because the tournament would be back on and they could not afford to miss their chance to enter the castle.

He was half expecting Mai to challenge them again if he was honest. While she had retreated to her tent once the Kuriboh had disappeared, seeming to need to think, she was still encamped on the edge of the clearing and she only needed two more Star Chips to get into the finals herself.

"Hey." He startled and got to his feet, wheeling around as he stood to glower at the speaker. "Easy, Jou, I'm not Voice." Amane sighed at her friend. "It's just me."

"Hey, Bakura." Jou backed down a little but he still kept his eye on her as he asked, "Where did you two go to?"

"Not sure, I've been asleep since I got out the shower last night." She frowned slightly as she admitted it, sitting next to the fire, which had gone out while everyone had been asleep. "I woke up outside the castle with these." She held out her hand, revealing eight Star Chips. His eight Star Chips. "Voice told me that these were yours and to give them back before sunrise. She went to sleep on me before I could ask what she had been up to to need them."

She passed him the golden stars and he stared at them for a moment before swapping the Star Chips in his glove for the ones he had been given back. He had not expected Bakura to return them. He had honestly thought that she would keep them, or worse, use them as trade bait for something. Now he felt even worse about Yugi's Shadow Game.

Or he did until something occurred to him.

He had sixteen Star Chips. He only needed ten.

Yugi needed four more. They could get into the castle with two left over. He was even tempted to let Mai have the extras if she would take them, both in order to ensure they knew who one of the other finalists was and because she had not left them last night and she had been worried about Yugi when she had collapsed, so he guessed she was a friend.

This was it then. No more duelling. They could get into the castle. A day early too, thankfully. He had the feeling that they could all use the rest. He was almost certain Pegasus was doing it deliberately, pushing the Duelists to their limits in order to see just how much he could get out of them before they broke.

As the others started to wake, Amane pulled out breakfast supplies from her backpack, and Jou got the fire going, not sure how she had managed to get bacon onto the island, but not complaining. Mokuba woke first and immediately looked around, his shoulders sinking when he saw his brother was not there yet.

"He's probably still kicking Pegasus's ass," Jou offered as reassurance, making the younger boy smirk slightly and nod. "He was pretty damn pissed when he left last night."

"I know." Mokuba nodded, helping bank the fire and get it high enough to cook on, not admitting to wishing that his brother had taken him with him. He knew he had been left behind for his own safety, but that did not mean that he did not want to be there for Seto.

Honda and Anzu were up next, the pair of them wandering off to the stream for fresh water as the smell of bacon lured a wary Mai out of her tent and over to the campsite, frowning and pointing at Bakura behind her back, only to look confused when Jou shook his head and gestured for her to join them.

"Morning." Jou grinned at her, much more at ease now he knew he could get both himself and Yugi into the castle.

She frowned at him. "If you're thinking about challenging me for your last two Star Chips, think again."

"Actually, I have spares. Bakura brought mine back." Jou showed her the full glove. "So if you're interested, I have a couple of extra Star Chips."

Mai stared at him for a few moments, then huffed. "That's not funny, Jonouchi Katsuya."

"Not a joke." He showed her the six spare Star Chips. "There's enough for all three of us to make it into the castle."

"Bakura came back?" Jou startled at the sound of Yugi's voice, and the three of them turned to look at the girl as she pushed herself to sit up.

"Yuge, hey!" Jou supported her as she hazily blinked around, clearly not entirely awake yet. "How're you feeling?"

"Better," she admitted sheepishly. "Sorry for worrying you."

"No, it's fine, look, Yuge, I..."

"Jonouchi," Mai interrupted his apology, "were you serious?"

"Why not?" Jou asked her. "We're allies until morning, right? The sun hasn't fully risen yet."

Mai paused to think about that as Anzu and Honda came back with the water, allowing them to make hot chocolate and coffee, depending on who wanted what, and it was not until they started eating the bacon baps that Amane had made from the food in her bag that she spoke up. "I'm a Duellist. I don't accept charity from anyone. I earn my way into the finals of any tournament I enter. That means I can't take those Star Chips. I won't forget the offer, though."

Jou huffed slightly but nodded. "I get it, but you better be in there to meet us."

Mai's return nod was sharp and relieved that he understood, having expected him to kick off at her for it. She shot him a look that held more respect than she had the previous night, though only Yugi noticed it. Yugi paused to consider what Mai had said and then spoke too, "Jou?"

"Yeah, Yuge?" The teen in question looked over at her as she demolished her bacon sandwich.

"I challenge you. Four Star Chips." Yugi's gaze was firm but full of excitement.

"These are your Star Chips, really, I could just give them to you," he reminded her, confused.

"I won them for you. They're yours." Yugi shook her head. "Besides, I need to win them from you to be legit, so let's duel. You and me."

"You sure, Yuge? If I win you'll only have two Star Chips left," he pointed out, still confused.

"Guess I'll just have to win, then." Yugi smiled at him. "After breakfast?"

"After breakfast."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Note: The Yami: boots, Yugi: trainers thing was a thing in the anime. Every time they switched, they switched footwear. Trust me. Duelist Kingdom. Boots trainers boots trainers...


	12. Solidarity

"You sure about this, Yuge?" Jou asked as he watched the girl in question cut and shuffle her deck, still a little confused why she wanted to duel when he could just return the Star Chips she had won for him. "I mean, you won them. If anything, I need to win the last two off of you, not the other way around."

"I won them for you, not for me," Yugi reminded him as she shuffled one last time and looked up at him. "I know you're still worried about me after last night, but I need to win these last four off of you, and not just because Pegasus will probably try and count it as me cheating again if I don't..." She hesitated for a moment. "Yes, I won those Star Chips from that Eliminator, but I collapsed afterwards, and he didn't even have full control over the magic he was using. I need to be stronger if I'm going to face down Pegasus's Millennium Eye. That means fighting my way into the castle... even if it means duelling you for my last few Star Chips."

She felt guilt surge down the bond from her older sister at her words as Jou considered her and sighed before talking to her darker half over their bond. _'You weren't in control, Anesan. You can't control what happens when I'm not wearing the Puzzle, I know that. What happened isn't your fault. You weren't the one who activated that Shadow Game.'_

 _'You're too kind, Imoto-chan, but I let you down just as badly as if I_ _ **had**_ _been. I should have been able to protect you.'_ What the spirit did not admit was that she was not sure that it was a good idea for her little sister to be involved in the battle with Pegasus at all. Her light-souled sibling had been so faded after the game with the Eliminator that Oneesan had been honestly worried that she would lose her.

Knowing that she still planned to fight Pegasus alongside her made the older, more powerful spirit nervous. If Imoto-chan stretched herself too far in a Shadow Game, even if she had life energy left, once her mental and magical energies were gone and she could no longer protect herself from the Shadows, her soul would die. Oneesan could not bear the thought of that happening.

Yugi mentally nudged her sister gently, able to sense that the former Pharaoh was hiding something from her and wanting to try and comfort her.

She did not get a response before Jou spoke, pulling his deck out of his pocket as he did so. "I guess I get it. I mean, I'm worried about you fighting Pegasus at all after last night, but if you think this will help then I'll duel you."

"Thanks." Yugi grinned, relieved. She could feel her sister's concern, and her close friends were not very good at hiding their emotions from her. She knew that her collapse had scared them, but she had to keep going. There was too much at stake not to. However, before she headed for the Duel Box she turned to her newest friend, still not sure what the older Duellist thought of her after last night. "Hey, Mai? You wanna watch?"

Mai considered her for a moment, then shook her head. "No offence, Yugi, but the sun's risen and I've got Duelists to hunt. You wait, by the time you beat Jonouchi..."

"Hey!" Jou protested.

"By the time you beat Jonouchi," Mai ignored him, "I'll already be in the castle, ready for the all-female final."

"See you there." Yugi nodded, filled with determination to get there as soon as possible and meet her friend in a proper Duel.

"See you." Mai turned to leave, then paused and looked back at her. "Yugi?"

"Yes, Mai?" she asked, confused as to what was wrong.

"Just... thanks. For trusting me the way you did last night. I promise I won't tell anyone you've got crazy Duel Monsters related magic." Mai gave her a hesitant smile which Yugi returned brightly. "I just have one question. Can any Duelist learn it?"

"I... I don't know," Yugi admitted, "but when I find out, I'll let you know."

Mai snorted, amused. "That's fair, see you in the castle."

As Mai disappeared between the trees, Jou turned to Yugi, looking both worried and excited. "Ready, Yuge?"

"Yes. Jou, it's time to Duel."

* * *

The waterways underneath Crawford's castle were cold and dark, but they suited Kaiba's needs to a tee. The delivery tunnels that led straight into the castle were the perfect way to get into the castle unnoticed and without getting attacked. While he still had the gun from the helicopter and he was not afraid to use it, he was fully aware that the moment he fired a single shot he would draw the attention of every goon in the area. As such, a stealthy infiltration was a much better option than storming the castle.

Not that it mattered how he entered the castle. He was going to rip Pegasus J. Crawford limb from limb. The man deserved it after everything he had done. To try and take his company from him was contemptible. To try and have him killed was unforgivable. To kidnap his brother, however, was the final straw. Crawford would pay and he would pay dearly.

A thought niggled at the back of his mind. Five months ago, he would not have cared. The loss of his brother would not have phased him. He would have mourned the loss of his controlling share in Kaiba Corp more than that of his brother. He had fallen that far. He could not deny the thought either. During Death-T he would have allowed his brother to go insane or die for losing his match against Yugi.

Yugi... no, Oneesan had fixed that. Fixed him.

Or maybe she had broken him. He could not focus properly. Emotions kept interfering. He was not as coldly calculating as he had been. He still had his game face, that was true, but the pure logic he had functioned on before was not what he ran on now. He reacted, he felt furious, distressed, betrayed. Before everything, before _**HER**_ , he would not have felt anything.

He was so confused.

The little Yugi was just as disconcerting.

He had felt the Shadows moving, just as he had been able to since he had been Challenged the very first time, and he had even been able to pinpoint the focal point for the dark magic that had been consuming the area. However, he had not sensed the magical blast coming until it had been too late, and despite the fact she had clearly had a negative reaction to the darkness, she had shoved him out of the way and taken the magic to the chest in his place.

And he did not know why.

They were not friends.

He had tried to murder her and her friends. He would have killed her grandfather without a second thought. He had not been bluffing during Death-T when he had told her he would let her grandfather suffer a heart attack if she did not surrender.

Why had she protected him?

She had clearly been suffering during the game that had followed. Without her older sister to protect her from the darkness, she had declined rapidly. However, just like Death-T, she had not given up. She had not stopped fighting, no matter how much she hurt or what happened.

Which was why he had trusted her with his brother. While he would prefer Mokuba was with him, where he could keep an eye on him, he knew what he was doing was dangerous. At any point, if something went wrong, he could be killed, and if his brother was with him, Mokuba could be murdered or worse.

As much as he hated to rely on anyone, Yugi would clearly give her life to protect her enemies, so someone she considered a friend was safest at her side. Luckily for Mokuba, his brother was, apparently, on that list. He would just owe her a debt until she could be paid for her services to them.

The sounds of approaching footsteps and low voices drew him out of his thoughts. He ducked into an alcove and hid behind a pillar. He could not risk being caught. Not yet. Not when he had yet to reach his goal.

"I don't understand why the boss wants to see him. Surely we should just shoot him on sight," one of the approaching goons was grumbling as they got into hearing range.

"We can't because there's no guarantee competitors won't come through here and see it." It sounded like the second man shoved the first, as Kaiba heard someone stumbling. "Don't be an idiot. If we see him, we're to escort him to the Boss and not question whatever happens, remember?"

"Aren't you creeped out by that?" the first asked as the young CEO tried to formulate a plan using this news. "Also, don't shove, I nearly ended up in the water."

There was another stumbling sound as the second snapped, "Watch it! And, no, because the guy who escorted that Kaiba clone to Yugi got a massive bonus for keeping his mouth shut about where the Boss got him from."

Kaiba grimaced at the mention of the fake that his brother had mentioned when he returned his deck. He did not consciously remember anything from his time in a magically induced coma. For Pegasus to have created a clone of him to try and defeat HIS rival, even if it had, as it had claimed, been made up of the parts that he had discarded, spoke of a ridiculous amount of power and a sheer nerve that Kaiba wanted to punch him for.

If he had thrown off those parts, they were weak, worthless to him. They did not deserve the honour of fighting with his deck. HIS dragons.

The return of his deck was something else he owed Yugi for, and he passionately hated owing anyone anything.

Still, that did not matter right now. He took his gun out from where he had hidden it and stepped out behind the passing guards, pressing it to the back of the nearest one's head. "I believe you're looking for me."

"K...Kaiba-san..." the threatened goon stammered. "I..."

"Put the gun down." His partner pointed his own gun at the young CEO. "Now."

The teen did not blink, pressing on the trigger just enough for both men to hear the pin starting to click and causing them both to freeze, realising he was serious about his threat. "Take me to Crawford and I'll let him live."

"R...right away, sir."

* * *

Despite him saying he had understood her reasoning, Jou was still not entirely convinced that the duel was entirely necessary as he joined Yugi in the Duel Box. She had taught him everything he knew of the game, and she knew every card in his deck. She did not need to prove anything to him or any of their friends. Except perhaps the Dark Bakura, but she did not really count as a friend. Especially after last night.

He did not understand why Yugi was doubting herself. Yes, she had collapsed after fighting the Eliminator in a Shadow Game and, yes, she had passed out again after summoning a real live Kuriboh. However, Oneesan had already told them that she was a Light soul and that the Shadows would hurt her more than they would anyone else. That she had managed to win despite how much pain she had been in was testament to her strength. None of them considered her weak for passing out afterwards. Jou suspected he would probably do the same thing in her position.

As for the Kuriboh collapse, she did not seem to remember that none of her friends could do what she had. As close as he felt to some of his Duel Monsters, he could not summon the monsters for real. He did not know anyone who could. Well, except for probably Oneesan and possibly the Bakuras, but he had never seen them do it.

She seemed to be under the mistaken impression that she was weak and needed to be stronger, but in his opinion, she was the strongest out of her group of living friends.

Still, she was not going to let him just give her the Star Chips she needed, and she would know if he threw the game to her. He had never seen Yugi angry and he really did not want to, so he was going to duel her properly, but he really did not think it was needed.

"You go first, Yuge," he offered and watched as she nodded and drew.

Yugi considered her hand and tried not to be irritated. She knew Jou too well to think he was okay with her wanting to duel him right now. He would be concerned for her after her collapse and he would want her to rest. She could sense that Anesan felt the same way. She could feel her older sister was ready to take over if she needed her to as well.

In her mind it just confirmed what she already knew. She was weak and her friends, despite saying otherwise, knew it, too. She was not dumb, she was fully aware that if the duel against the Eliminator had gone on much longer, she probably would not have survived it. She was just as aware of the fact that if she went up against Pegasus the way she was, she would collapse too soon to be of any use to Anesan. She was ashamed of it. She did not want to let her family and friends down.

She needed to be stronger. If she stayed the way she was, she would break her promise to Jou, fail to be there when her other soul needed her, and lose her grandfather.

Her opening hand was not the greatest, but she summoned her rock monster and smiled at Jou, just glad that he was willing to duel her. "Giant Soldier of Stone in defence mode. Your move."

Jou considered his hand, then the field. Her soldier was bulky and tough for most of his monsters to beat under normal circumstances. However, its attack score was bad so he could start building up a wall of monsters to smack down anything else she summoned.

"I summon Lava Battleguard, in attack mode," he called, placing the warrior on the field and becoming surprised when the normally 1550 attack point monster grew to 2015. Then and only then did he look at the field that the Battle Box ran, and he paused as he realised something.

Yugi had no advantages on this board. She had given him Sogen and Forest, which would power up his deck easily. However, he knew her deck, and there was very little within it that could take advantage of those fields. He did not know whether she had known that when she had chosen the box or whether she had been so keen to duel him that she had not even considered the field.

If he had been duelling anyone else, he would have been insulted that they thought he needed the advantage, but it was Yugi and he knew she had more respect for him than that. If anything, he was pretty sure she was not thinking straight. He was not sure what she was thinking, but she had not seemed herself since she had woken up, and this seemed like a continuation of that. "My Lava Battleguard will knock down your wall."

His red-furred, club-wielding monster did just that, sending rubble tumbling down onto Yugi's side of the field briefly before the hologram disappeared. "Your turn, Yuge."

As Yugi drew she considered the field. Jou's Lava Battleguard was strong, but not as strong as the monster she had just drawn. "Summoned Skull, in attack mode," she called as she summoned the fiend to the field.

Lightning crackled between its claws as it towered over Jou's Lava Battleguard. When Yugi declared her attack, it unleashed it, destroying the ogre and costing Jou 485 life points. The teen sat back as his life points dropped to 1515. He waited for Yugi to play something face down to back up her powerful creature, only to be surprised when she called, "I end my turn."

"Are you taking this duel seriously?" Jou asked her as he drew, earning himself a startled look. "You're the one who taught me that you can't win with just monsters, so either you're not duelling me properly or you're not thinking. If you're not going to take this seriously, then I'll just give you the Star Chips."

"Jou..." Yugi hesitated when he gave her a sharp look.

"Look, I know there's something going on in that head of yours that's distracting you, but don't insult me by saying you want to duel me to get stronger and then not put your all into it," he told her as he put two cards face down. "Your move, by the way."

Yugi considered her hand for a moment before she drew. Jou was right. She was at risk of botching the duel. She was so focused on the future that she was not paying attention to the present. Getting stronger was important, but it meant nothing if she did not get into the castle. Plus she did not want to upset her friend by not giving him the duel he deserved.

She glanced over at Jou's field as she pulled her next card. There were no monsters standing against her right now. In theory her Summoned Skull could eradicate his life points on this turn. Except Jou had two face down cards, and she knew his deck as well as she knew her own. She had helped him build it from scratch. He had trap cards in there that could destroy her Summoned Skull and leave her wide open to attack. She could not take that risk.

However, there was a move she could make. "One card face down and I end my turn," she told her friend as she slipped a card into her magic and trap zone.

Jou internally winced as he realised he had just made the duel rather more difficult for himself. While it was a good thing Yugi had started actually planning, she was a very good duelist. When she was on her A game, he was not entirely certain that he could beat her. Plus he mostly knew her deck. That face down card could be anything, from an equip card she was using to bluff to her Mirror Force trap card which would decimate his field and leave him open to attack. There was no way he could risk attacking this turn.

Instead he summoned the Flame Swordsman from his hand, smiling slightly at the warmth and determination that came from the card he had just pulled and grinning as the field power up and the Salamandra spell card he equipped to it raised its attack points to 3040, which was more than enough to protect him from Yugi's Summoned Skull.

"I'm not attacking this turn," he told her, "so go."

As Yugi drew she felt her older sister nudge her slightly over the link, and she paused as the spirit said, _'Imoto-chan? Can I say something while you're thinking?'_

 _'Of course.'_ Yugi was surprised she felt she had to ask. She would never deny her darker self the chance to speak.

 _'You seem to be under the mistaken impression that I think you're weak,'_ her Anesan told her as she considered the cards in her hand. _'That's not true. I respect and trust you. I know that you will do everything in your power to support me. That doesn't mean I don't worry about you. From what I understand of family, that's normal.'_

Yugi let out a soft, amused noise as she played a card face down in her magic and trap zone. Anesan was not wrong. It was perfectly normal for family to look after and worry about each other. Just because her family was a little unorthodox, did not mean that was not true. _'You're right, I'm sorry. I just...'_ She hesitated for a moment, before announcing to Jou, "Your turn."

 _'Just what? Talk to me,'_ Anesan pressed while Jou considered the field and his hand.

 _'I know the Shadows make me ill, but I can't shake the feeling that the fact there's two of us is going to be important when we duel Pegasus,'_ Yugi admitted, watching as Jou summoned his Axe Raider in attack mode and its attack points grew to 2210. Jou was clearly building up his arsenal. _'And I don't want to be the reason we lose.'_

 _'You won't be. We'll come up with a plan, together, that won't let that happen,'_ her older sister promised her. _'Now we can talk to each other, we can plan properly once we get into the castle.'_

 _'For that I need to win this duel.'_ Yugi studied the field as she felt her sister sit back and let her have space to think. This was going nowhere. They were building up their forces, but neither of them wanted to trigger the other's traps. She had to take the risk. She could not win if she did not attack.

"My Summoned Skull attacks your Axe Raider," she declared.

"Bad choice, Yuge." Jou flipped one of his face down cards to reveal Kunai with Chain. Yugi winced as the weapon gave Axe Raider an extra 500 attack points, to 2710, and the warrior counter attacked, wiping out her Fiend monster and costing her 210 life points.

"Nice move," she acknowledged as her life points dropped to 1790 and she set a card in defence mode to protect her from a direct attack.

"I learned from the best." Jou grinned at her. Yugi blushed slightly at the flattery and gestured for him to make his move.

"I'm going to take a leaf out of your book," Jou decided after drawing and seeing he did not have another move to make. "I'm going to get my Axe Raider to attack your defence monster."

"Sorry, Jou, but nope." Yugi flipped one of her face down cards, revealing her Mirror Force.

"Crap!" Jou recoiled from the table as his Axe Raider's attack bounced off of the wall and destroyed his own monsters. He nearly tipped his chair over and yelped as he tried to right himself, somehow managing to balance on the chair's back two feet.

His opponent giggled as she darted around the table and grabbed the back of his chair, pushing him upright again.

"Thanks, Yuge." Jou chuckled as she retook her seat, then considered the field. "Aw, man. I can't believe I walked right into that. You took out two of my best monsters."

"Technically, you took out your own monsters." Yugi grinned back at him. "And you nearly managed to knock yourself out, too!"

"Yeah, yeah." Jou waved it off with a laugh as he set a monster in defence mode. "Hey, we're back on even footing at least."

"Maybe." Yugi's tone was teasing. Jou grinned broadly to hear it, knowing she only really felt comfortable acting that way with him, and she never did it when she was stressed. "My turn?" she asked and drew when he nodded.

"I flip my Curse of Dragon into attack mode," she told him as the yellow, vaguely zombie-like dragon took the field with a high-pitched roar, its 2000 attack points looking rather threatening. "And it attacks your defence monster."

Jou's Baby Dragon did not stand a chance. It revealed itself briefly, only to shatter before it could do little more than let out a squeak. Jou was not entirely pleased, as he had hoped to pull his Time Wizard before she could destroy his dragon; however, it did give him a chance to do something he had been hoping to do since the beginning of the duel.

"I flip Graverobber." He surprised her with the activation, the trap card's little imp appearing on the field above a gravestone. "And I'm going to steal your Summoned Skull out of your graveyard."

Yugi looked confused as to what he was up to as his imp flipped the card it was holding around, to reveal her fiend.

"Heads up, this move is entirely your fault. You taught me how to do this," he informed her as he picked three cards out of his hand. "I activate the Polymerization that you insisted I put in my deck to fuse my Red Eyes and your Summoned Skull."

It looked like a skilful move, but Jou was just relieved that it worked, as a huge, demonic-looking dragon appeared on the field with 3200 attack points and 2500 defence points.

"The Black Skull Dragon," Yugi squeaked, giving a name to the creature that had formed, looking worried.

"That's right," Jou agreed, suddenly wondering why Yugi had not wanted Red Eyes in her deck if she had known it could make this brute of a duel monster when combined with her Summoned Skull. "And he attacks your Curse of Dragon!"

The huge demonic dragon unleashed a slurry of magma bombs that struck the girl's side of the field, blowing up its opponent and taking out 1200 life points.

'I had forgotten they could do that...' Yugi grumbled to herself as her life points dropped to 590, putting her in serious danger of losing the duel. She had a face down card that could stop the dragon in its tracks, but she needed a powerful enough monster on the field to take it out on the same turn; otherwise, Jou could use a magic card to free his dragon. If that happened, then she was pretty sure it would be game over.

She hesitated momentarily as she reached for her deck. This was it. It could be game over if she had to play a defence card. Especially if Jou summoned another monster. She needed to trust her deck. It had not failed her yet, and she needed faith that it would come through for her again. Even as distracted as she had been, it had kept her in the game so far. She was confident it would pull through for her again.

She drew and Jou suddenly looked really worried as her face briefly lit up, only for the concern to fade slightly as she pursed her lips.

"I summon Gaia, the Fierce Knight in defence mode," she informed him, watching the horse-riding knight appear and point its lance at the beast opposite it, despite his card appearing in defence mode. The warrior, who had felt determined when she had drawn him, had his attack points grow to 2990, while his defence hit 2730, not enough to defeat the Black Skull Dragon but enough to protect her life points. "Your move."

Jou drew confident that Yugi's face down card meant nothing since she had taken the massive hit the turn before. "Sorry, Yuge, but Gaia's gunna be nothing but ash by the time my dragon's done with him. Molten Fireball Attack!"

The dragon opened its great maw and started charging its attack, only for it to make a choked sound and stop as a magical circle surrounded it. Jou's eyes widened as the beast's attack dropped by 700 to 2500. "Spellbinding Circle?" he asked as he glanced over to the other side of the field.

"Spellbinding Circle," Yugi confirmed, tapping the card she had flipped face up. "Our monsters might make as good a team as we do, but I'm not going to lose this duel if I can help it."

She paused as she realised what she had just said. She and Jou were a team. Two people who did not know what the other was thinking, but who did not need to in order to co-ordinate and work together. She was not alone. She did not have to rely entirely on herself. Even in the duel with Pegasus she would not be alone. She would have Anesan to support her. There would be two minds working together to stop him in his tracks and get Ojiisan back.

Two minds. Two separate minds.

If Pegasus could only read the mind of the active sister, then it would be possible to stop him from knowing what they were playing against him. She needed to test that theory though, AND get Anesan to agree to not being connected to her for the duel. Somehow it was the latter that she was sure would be harder.

"Yuge? You okay?" Jou asked her, looking concerned at her sudden distraction.

"Fine, fine. I just... I had an idea, but it's not relevant to this duel." She nodded quickly. "Is it my turn?"

"Yeah, you kind of stopped mine in its tracks," Jou grumbled, though from his tone Yugi could tell he was not being serious.

"Sorry." Yugi smiled sheepishly at him. "But I'm going to destroy your Black Skull Dragon now. Gaia, take it out."

The knight stabbed its lance into the black-scaled demon dragon and it shattered into black and red shards of light, costing Jou 490 life points, taking his total down to 1025. She could not hear what Jou grumbled under his breath as he drew, but she did not think he was being serious about his complaints because he had a small smile as he set a defence card and gestured for her to make a move.

She drew, grinning when she saw she had drawn a monster. "Sorry, Jou, but I win."

"What?" Jou looked surprised. "But I have a defence monster!?"

"I know, but I summon Silver Fang." The beast monster appeared on the field, the Forest powering its attack up to 1560. "And it attacks your defence monster, clearing the path for Gaia."

Silver Fang launched itself forward with a snarl, pouncing on the Wolf that briefly appeared from the face down card, before biting down on its throat and defeating it.

"Damn, Yuge, good game," Jou admitted, putting his hand down and sitting back as he waited for the final attack.

"Really good." Yugi smiled back at him. "Thanks for helping me get my head on straight."

"Hey, no problem." He shrugged. "What're friends for? Now you gunna end it or are we gunna sit here all day?"

"Gaia!" Yugi called with a laugh. "Attack Jou's life points directly."

The warrior did so, ending the game. Jou slid the four Star Chips she needed across the table to her.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked her as she slipped the golden stars into her glove and watched them glint in the morning light.

"I'm okay, Jou, honestly." She smiled at him. "I'm just nervous about what's coming next, that's all. Thanks for helping me calm down and reminding me I don't have to do this alone."

"You're never alone, Yuge. We've always got your back. Don't forget that."

* * *

"Ah, Kaiba-boy, welcome." Pegasus smiled at the younger CEO as he entered the room, amused rather than annoyed at the fact the teen had a gun trained on one of his men. While he did not wish to lose any of the staff, the man in question had been quite certain of himself when Pegasus had given him his orders earlier. It was karma for him to be the one that Kaiba-boy caught out. "You know, there was no need to assault my staff. If you had wanted to see me I could have arranged a meeting."

"Stow it, Crawford." Kaiba snorted, aware that the partner of the man he was threatening had drawn his gun and was pointing it at his back. "You honestly think I'd trust you after you tried to steal my company away from me?"

"Steal it?" Pegasus sounded upset, not that the elder Kaiba brother believed it in the slightest. "Kaiba-boy, I'm hurt. I was simply trying to ensure that your treacherous Board of Directors didn't sell off the company to someone else while you recovered from your illness."

"Don't even try lying to me." The teenager noticed the smile that had not quite reached Crawford's eyes before it disappeared at his cold statement. "My brother told me everything. It didn't take you long at all to start conspiring to take everything from me. The only thing he couldn't tell me was why."

"You were in a coma, your company was crashing, Kaiba-boy. I was not going to lose access to your holo-technology." Crawford's tone spoke of his irritation, "If you'll let your hostage go, we can have a private conversation about the matter. Just you and me. I won't even make you drop the gun."

 _'Sure, and once my guard is down, you'll have me shot.'_ Kaiba did not let his disgust at that idea show, but he did not have to for Crawford to smirk.

"Oh, nothing so gauche, Kaiba-boy. I'm not going to have you shot. I just don't particularly want to discuss this with an audience." He could not hide his shock at the elder man's comment, and the momentary distraction allowed his captive to escape and flee out the door. His partner went with him at a gesture from the CEO of Industrial Illusions, and the door slammed shut behind them.

"Nice guess." Kaiba Corp's CEO glowered at his opponent.

"No guess, Kaiba-boy." Crawford was far too smug as he lifted the hair that covered one side of his face to reveal a golden eye with the same symbol as Yugi's Millennium Puzzle. "I know every thought you have."

"You have magic." Kaiba suddenly realised he was in over his head. He had known that the man somehow knew his opponent's moves before he made them. The whole Bandit Keith incident when Crawford had humiliated the arrogant prize hunter by writing down exactly how to defeat him for a child to use had shown him that. Until this moment, however, he had not known how he had done it.

"Very good." Pegasus lowered his hair, his smirk widening as he realised that what Bakura had told him last night was true. Kaiba was fully aware of Shadow Magic and its rules, which meant he could use it to throw him off and threaten him. "My Millennium Eye allows me to read your mind like it's an open book. Every thought in your head, every memory you own is there for me to read. And, no, Kaiba-boy, you can't block me. No one can."

"Reading your opponent's mind is cheating," the younger man accused, only to scowl when Crawford chuckled.

"The game belongs to me, I make the rules." The Item holder sent Shadows crawling along the floor. The faint motes of purple and black smoke on the edge of his vision made Kaiba nervous, though he tried to hide it. Neither previous encounter with the Shadows had ended well for him. "And quite frankly you've cheated. Anyone who wants to challenge me while I'm on this island must earn the right by winning my tournament. I'm within my rights to cast a Penalty on you here and now for trying to bypass that rule."

Kaiba braced himself, fully aware that while Yugi had not been aiming to take his life, Crawford would not hesitate. Briefly the thought crossed his mind that he could shoot the man here and now, but he squashed it, fully aware that if anything would end his life, that would. He had done enough research into Oneesan's Shadow Games before Challenging her at Death-T to know that all he had to do was raise his weapon and he would be making his intent clear. The magic would, most likely, vanish him or leave him a gibbering mess. Just as it had many of the people who had seriously injured Yugi.

"However," the older CEO continued, smug in the knowledge that he had Kaiba over a barrel, "I will let you go with a warning as long as you agree to follow the rules. You need ten Star Chips to enter my castle officially and try to win the right to fight me. I'll even give you a head start." He opened his hand to reveal five of the golden stars that the rest of the island were fighting so hard over. "After all, the games have to be fair, and only four challengers can earn a place in the semi-finals. Two of those places are gone, Kaiba-boy. You know the competitors rather well."

Which meant somehow Yugi and her mutt of a friend had managed to get the rest of their Star Chips while he had been infiltrating the castle. He was not entirely happy about that. They had Mokuba with them, and once they entered the castle, his brother would be back within Crawford's grasp. He needed to be in this castle by the time they got here to ensure his safety.

"Win your way back into the castle, and I'll forgive this transgression. Try and break in again or try to shoot me with that gun of yours, and Yugi-girl's Penalties will seem like walks in the park," Pegasus threatened as the darkness swirled around the younger CEO. Kaiba felt something encircle him before settling like a weight on his shoulders, the gun suddenly feeling heavy in his grasp. "You have till sunset, Kaiba-boy, or until those last two slots fill up."

"I'll be here Crawford." If looks could kill, Kaiba's glare would have done the job as he snatched the five Star Chips. "And magic or no magic, I'm going to make you pay for messing with my company and my family."

"We'll see, Kaiba-boy, we'll see."


	13. History

"Hey Honda?" Mokuba asked as he watched Yugi slip the last Star Chips she needed into her glove and smile at Jonouchi. "How much would you charge to be my bodyguard?"

Honda paused to look at the boy properly before he replied. He did not like Mokuba. Unlike Yugi, he had not really forgiven the Kaibas for Death-T. While, yes, the child in front of him had saved his life during the games, Mokuba had been just as complicit in trying to get them killed as his brother. On the other hand, however, Yugi had called Mokuba a friend, and even if she had not, the enemy of his enemy was a friend. Mokuba was as much Pegasus's enemy as they were, so they had that in common. Plus the boy was scared. He was trying to hide it, but Honda had been around his cousins enough to tell when a kid was frightened.

Honda could not blame him. Mokuba had told them that he and his brother had had a rough time of it growing up, and that was why his brother had been so insane. Honda was willing to bet that the younger Kaiba was terrified that things would return to being that way if Pegasus managed to steal Kaiba Corp from them. Honda could probably extort a lot of money out of the boy because of it. However, he was not Bakura. He was not particularly interested in material wealth. Information was much more valuable to him. Especially information that he could use to protect those important to him.

"I'll do you a deal," Honda finally decided. "You keep me informed if your brother plans to harass my friends and I won't charge you for kicking the ass of any jerk who tries to kidnap you."

He watched Mokuba consider that. The kid was not stupid. He did stupid things to try to impress his brother, like antagonising Oneesan, but he was not dumb. Honda did not think Kaiba was the type to drop his rivalry with Yugi, or rather with the spirit of the Puzzle. Even if the Penalty that had put him in a coma meant that his methods of beating her were less murderous from now on, Honda wanted a heads up on it so he could ensure that he was there if she needed something punched. He was certain Mokuba would see the benefit of giving him that.

"I won't give you any company secrets," the boy warned him.

"I don't want them." Honda shrugged. "I just want to know when your brother decides to go after Yugi again."

"That's fair," Mokuba allowed, still thinking. He could not blame Honda for wanting to be prepared, and it was a small price to pay for the assistance of the rather heavyset teen. As long as Mokuba did not threaten his friends, he knew Honda would be willing to protect him, and it was not like Pegasus could bribe him like he had the guards Seto had hired for him. He would have offered to pay Jou for his help too, since he was a loyal mutt when he picked a side, but Mokuba could see that it would be pointless. He was too focused on Yugi to be of any use to him as a bodyguard. "All right. Deal."

Honda nodded as Yugi and Jou exited the Duel Box and headed their way. He could not help but wonder if Jou was aware of his own body language. The blond had slipped into position behind and to the right of Yugi, who seemed more confident and happy than she had been since Pegasus had attacked her.

"Are you alright, Yugi?" Anzu asked, worried for her, as the pair reached the group and Bakura moved away from the tree she had been leaning on.

"Fine. Better than fine." Bakura paused at the bright tone, able to sense the confusion that pulsed down the bond from her darker self. She was slightly confused, too. It was almost like Yugi had worked something critical out during the duel. "I don't want to say too much because Pegasus can read minds and I don't even know if it'll work."

_'What will work?'_ Oneesan asked curiously. _'What're you planning?'_

_'Pegasus can read minds,'_ Yugi spoke as they started for the castle, _'but what if he can only read the active mind?'_

She felt her sister pause to consider that. _'You think we might be able to hide our plans from him if we use one of our minds as a shield and swap back and forth... If it works he couldn't counter it, but do you have any idea how dangerous that is?'_

_'I know...'_ Yugi sighed. She was fully aware of how dangerous it would be, but she could not think of any other way to handle the Millennium Eye. _'But can you think of another option?'_

The lack of answer told her that she could not and did not want to admit it. Yugi did not get a chance to press before Bakura poked her shoulder. "What's up?" she asked the Ring bearer before pausing at the slight smirk on the other's face. "Oh... Ba-Khu-Ra, hi."

"You know, runt, remembering how to pronounce my name almost earns you brownie points." The Thief Queen looked amused.

"I try not to forget names, plus I looked up the meaning." Yugi shrugged, trying not to wonder if she should be worried, and able to sense Oneesan hovering, waiting to step in if the Thief Queen tried anything, "It means divine soul, doesn't it?"

"Roughly," the spirit of the Ring allowed. "'Soul like Ra' fits, too. Nice research. You might be smarter than I thought." Yugi was not sure how to take the back-handed compliment. "It's not you I need to talk to right now, though. I need to talk to your shadow. Bring her out."

"What do you want?" The spirit of the Puzzle took control, red eyes watching her enemy carefully.

"Honestly, Pharaoh, I thought you'd be open to a deal with me. Pegasus certainly was." Bakura's smirk widened as Oneesan's eyes widened briefly and worry flickered across her face. "So, here's my offer. You let me do whatever I need to while I'm here and I'll get your runt off the island safely if things go wrong."

"I won't let you take the Puzzle," the Pharaoh warned her.

"I wouldn't expect you to." The spirit of the Ring shrugged. "You have an advantage over him. I need Yugi alive. I don't care if Pegasus lives or dies. I just need his Eye, and so do you."

"What?" This was the first time she had even mentioned that.

"It's quite funny actually." Bakura chuckled. "You and him don't entirely want different things. He wants to open the Doors to the Afterlife to bring back his dead wife; you need to open them if you ever want to move on."

"How do you... You went to his castle last night," Oneesan realised, grimacing. "That's why you took Jou's star chips." She paused, tempted to ask whether last night's Shadow Game had been her idea, then decided against it, knowing that she would not be able to remain calm if it had been. "What did he offer you?"

"Nice try." Bakura was amused. "All you need to know is I'm coming out on top no matter what happens. Do we have a deal or not?"

The spirit of the Puzzle considered the offer. She did not trust Bakura as far as she could throw her. However, the Thief Queen was always pretty focused when it came to things she wanted, and if she said she needed Imoto-chan alive, then she would not get her killed. "Swear you won't hurt my friends and we have a deal."

"You'd trust my word?" The incredulous look Bakura was giving her amused Oneesan, and the confident smile she gave in return made the other spirit bristle.

"You don't like me. I don't know why. I don't know what I did to deserve it, but I know you won't screw yourself over. If you want me out of your way, you'll stick to our deal." She paused at the irritated look on the Ring spirit's face. "What?"

"You want to know what you did?" the Thief Queen demanded. "You really want to know?"

"I can't make it right if you don't tell me," the Pharaoh replied, aware that her friends had stopped walking and were anxiously watching the pair of them.

"You can't make it right." Bakura's hands balled into fists as the Shadows started swirling around her, unleashed by her anger. "We were allies, you and I. You were helping me fix what your family had done. You promised me justice for their crimes and in exchange I was helping you improve Egypt. You were even teaching me how to use my magic. I thought we might actually be friends. Then you betrayed me. You sent your right-hand man and several guards to try to bring me in on false charges. Dead or alive."

"I wouldn't..." Oneesan was stunned as she stared at her former ally. "I couldn't..."

"What charges?" Yugi demanded as she seized control from her shell-shocked sister. "What did she accuse you of?"

"I didn't try to kill her. I hadn't tried to kill her once before that point. She was the only member of the Royal Family I didn't want to gut." Bakura hissed back, enraged by the Pharaoh's attempt at a denial. "But her men tried to kill me for arranging an assassination attempt. If I was going to kill her I would have done it myself, not arranged someone to do it for me, and I certainly wouldn't have used poison. I nearly died that day because she broke her word and wanted to bury our arrangement."

Yugi backed up slightly, not wanting to be in range of Bakura's fists if she lashed out at her next words. "Didn't you talk to her before you turned on her?"

"After I killed her precious Ring-bearer boyfriend and the men he came with?" Bakura snorted as she barely avoided smacking the runt for her audacity, "No. Why would I? She'd made her intent clear by sending them after me."

That explained how she had come into possession of the Millennium Ring. Something did not ring true, though. It was probably the story as Bakura knew it, but Yugi knew her sister. She would not have turned on a friend that easily. She would have wanted to know why Bakura had betrayed her. If Oneesan's right-hand man had gone after Bakura, Yugi severely doubted it was on the Pharaoh's orders, but she had no way to prove it, and the spirit of the Puzzle did not know her side of the story so she could not defend herself.

"She betrayed me, so I swore to destroy her and everything she cared about," Bakura warned Yugi. "That includes you, brat. You're just lucky you're her Jb, her heart. She needs you to reach the afterlife, and I need the Doors open to fix her father's mess. So you get to live. For now. Don't get used to it, though, because the moment I don't need you any more, I'm going to tear you apart and make her watch."

Oneesan snatched control back at those words, snarling out, "Touch one hair on her head and, former friend or not, I will destroy you."

The pair glared at each other in silence for what felt like a few minutes, causing Yugi's friends to shift nervously from one foot to the other, wondering if the pair were about to go at it, then Oneesan snorted. "You have a deal, Bakura. I won't get in your way as long as you ensure Imoto-chan's safety and don't harm my friends. We can settle the rest of this once I can fairly defend myself with my side of the story."

"Fine." Bakura huffed but nodded, pulling her loose magic back into her item. "But getting your memories back will only vindicate me. Wait and see."

The spirit of the Puzzle did not respond to that. There was nothing she could say. Instead she swapped out with Yugi, who sighed. "Changing the subject, what did you mean by Ib?"

Bakura paused, then shook her head. "Jb, and look it up when you get home, brat. I'm too tired and cross to play Professor right now." With that she vanished back into the Ring, leaving a flustered and slightly irritated Amane, who looked like she did not know what to say.

Yugi felt the same way. The attempt to change the subject had also been an attempt to get her mind and the minds of her friends off of the accusations Ba-Khu-Ra had made against her older sister. The whole group was subdued as they headed for the castle. While Yugi tried to send reassurance and trust over the bond to Anesan, all she got back was silence.

It worried her. The spirit of the Puzzle did not normally shut her out, and now was an awful time for her to start. She could not help but wonder if that had been the goal of the spirit of the Ring. Yes, she needed them to fix whatever mess Anesan's family had caused, but Yugi had not forgotten that Bakura had a deal with Pegasus and could be working against them. If he also wanted to open the Doors to the Afterlife, then his goals and Bakura's were not that different. At least as far as Yugi knew.

A thought occurred to her. It would be easier for Bakura to steal multiple items from one person than it would be to have to fight more than one Item holder. No matter who won the upcoming battle, Bakura could then pick off the weakened winner. She really was going to come out on top no matter what happened. It would have been scary if she had any time to be scared. With the finals coming ever closer, they needed to be focused on them, rather than anything else.

As she approached the bottom of the staircase up to the great wooden doors to the castle, she reached out over the bond again.

_'Anesan, I don't believe you betrayed Bakura. There has to be more to what happened, but we can't think about it right now. I need you. Please.'_ She could not help the slight undercurrent of fear that travelled along the bond with her words, and she felt her darker self snap to attention when it hit her.

_'I'm sorry, Imoto-chan, I'm being selfish,'_ her sister said as Jou started moving up ahead of her. _'There will be plenty of time to think over what Ba-Khu-Ra said once we have Ojiisan back.'_

_'I know you're worried, but I know you. You wouldn't have sent your boyfriend...'_ Yugi paused as what she had just said hit her. _'You had a boyfriend.'_

She felt Anesan freeze at that, then, _'I had a boyfriend. Huh...'_

Yugi giggled as she took her first steps towards the castle. _'I wonder who he was. I mean he sounds like he was a bit of an ass if he tried to kill one of our friends, but I'm sure he had a reason.'_

_'I wish I knew what it was,'_ Anesan sighed, _'and who he was, what his name was, and what he looked like.'_

Yugi was about to respond to that when she bumped into Jou, who had stopped dead in his tracks halfway up the stairs.

"Jou?" she prompted, stepping around him, only to see what had made him stop.

"Oniisan!" Mokuba shot up the steps and hugged his brother, who was standing outside the doors into the castle. Seto staggered backwards a couple of steps and wrapped one arm around him as he looked down on the approaching group.

"Kaiba. Are you okay?" Yugi asked as she stepped towards him, noticing the duelling glove on his left hand and the few star chips within it. She could sense Anesan was ready to take over if he challenged her. "You're competing?"

There was a moment of silence where she wondered if he was considering challenging her, then he nodded. "I need five more star chips to get into the castle, so I'll be taking Mokuba with me." The younger Kaiba brother grinned brightly at that.

"If you need help..." Yugi trailed off as Kaiba glowered at her.

"Don't, Mutou." His tone was warning as he glared at her. "I'll handle it. Just get out of my way."

_'Imoto-chan, look.'_ Her sister's voice sounded in her head, then Yugi felt her 'stretch' her senses to mesh with Yugi's. Suddenly it was like someone had turned on an overlay and she could see the auras and magic surrounding people. Kaiba had golden chains wrapped around him, resting over his shoulders like a heavy weight. _'He's under a Penalty. Pegasus must have gotten to him. We can't do anything for him without bringing the Shadows down on our heads, remember?'_

Yugi winced as Oneesan withdrew her senses. She remembered how much energy it had taken, how ill she had felt and how tired she had been after they had broken the Penalties on Bakura's small collection of soul infused dolls. It had taken her almost two weeks to stop feeling like she wanted to either sleep or throw up, and she had still had to go to school during it. As much as she wanted to help Kaiba, she did not have the energy to do so right now. Not after last night's Shadow Game.

"Kaiba. I won't interfere, I can't." She tried to ignore the looks she was getting from her friends at that and tried not to be impressed at how well she had hidden her illness from them after helping Bakura's friends. "But be careful, please?"

"Focus on yourself, Mutou," the taller teen stated coldly. "I can handle protecting myself and my brother. I'll be seeing you in the finals."

Yugi nodded and stood aside. Her friends followed suit. As the Kaiba brothers passed, Jou caught Mokuba's arm and slipped him something. Yugi watched as he whispered something to the smaller teen, who looked startled for a few moments, then nodded, gave him a grateful look, and chased after his brother, who was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Mokuba paused and spoke quietly to his brother, who glanced up at the group and grimaced slightly before nodding.

"Honda? You still up for our agreement?" Mokuba called up.

Honda paused to consider it for a couple of seconds, then looked at Yugi. "You mind?"

She could not help but wonder when she had been declared the leader of the group as she thought about it. She did not want to split the party, but if she did not let Honda go with the two Kaiba brothers, Mokuba could get grabbed when Kaiba was duelling. With Honda at their back, the boy would be safe. "Look after yourself, okay? You better come back in one piece."

"Of course." Honda gave her a confident smile that helped her relax a little as he turned to look at Jou. "Look after the girls."

"Hey, bro." Jou patted him on the shoulder and nodded. "I've got this."

Honda nodded and headed down the stairs, joining the Kaibas, who headed out to find challengers. Yugi watched them go, not sure if she had made the right call or if she was relieved Kaiba had not challenged her. She could not help but be worried about him. She knew he did not like her, but she wanted to be his friend. He was much more reasonable since he had awoken, and she had a feeling they were meant to be allies, plus she liked his brother. Mokuba was a good kid and she did not want anything to happen to him. That was why she had told Honda she was okay without him. It was not because she was happy for him to go, but because she was heading into the castle. It was relatively safe there. The Kaibas were heading out onto the Eliminator-infested island. They needed his help more than she did.

"Yugi?" Anzu asked gently, startling the girl who turned to look at her. "You sure about this?"

"Yeah. Honda can hold his own and he wouldn't have asked me if he didn't want to go." She shrugged, trying not to look concerned.

"And you're feeling okay?" Anzu continued to worry, forcing Yugi to put on a smile she did not really feel.

"I'm fine, just a little worried about them." Her words and bright tone seemed to reassure two of her friends: Anzu looked relieved and Jou's frame looked less tense. Amane gave her a sharp look, though, like she could see right through her. Yugi was not sure if she could or not considering she was a Dungeon Master and a gamer. It was highly possible. "Let's get inside, okay?"

The others nodded and followed her up. The goon at the door seemed disappointed, and Yugi was suddenly glad Kaiba had walked past. They had clearly expected the pair of them to go at it, and she did not have the spare star chips to risk in a duel right now. Still, as she watched the suited minion put her Star Chips into the lock on the door and saw it swing open, she took a deep breath.

This was it. They were in. She and Jou were finalists.

"Congratulations, Duelists," the thug announced as he took Jou's star chips from him and offered them both a numbered packet. Yugi got two, while Jou got three, causing the boy to wonder who was number one. "Inside those packets is everything you will need for the next couple of days, including room assignments, castle maps, itineraries, and duel times for tomorrow. Make sure you do not wander anywhere that isn't marked as public areas."

"Thank you," Yugi told him quietly, opening her pack and glancing inside as she stepped through the door. The paperwork he had mentioned was inside. She could feel her older sister's spectral hands on her shoulders as she tried not to get nervous.

They were in the endgame now. They were so close to the duel with Pegasus that to blow it now would be devastating. They needed to win the tournament to get Jou the money he needed for his sister's operation and to get the chance to free her Ojiisan's soul.

"Yugi." The sound of a familiar voice made her smile brighten. "Told you I'd beat you here."

"Mai!" She grinned, able to sense Oneesan's happiness at their friend being there. "Hey. Glad to see you made it."

"Of course I made it. We need to represent the women in the duelling world after all." Mai smirked at her. "Ready for an all female final?"

"Not if I stop you first." Jou chuckled confidently, making Mai turn her smirk on him.

"Oh, you think you can handle me?" the harpy duelist asked him, shifting her body slightly to show off her assets in the best light and becoming amused when Jou's mind clearly wandered until Anzu kicked him in the shin.

"Any time, anywhere," Jou taunted, trying to ignore the pain.

"Oh really? I might have to take you up on that." Mai looked amused as she took a good look at him. Yugi sighed and shook her head, amused as Anzu spluttered, outraged. "I found the kitchen if you're hungry."

"That sounds good." Yugi nodded, not particularly hungry but aware Jou always was. "Then we need to get settled in."

"Miss Mutou," the goon at the door called as they started heading further in, causing them to pause. "Mr. Crawford requests your presence in his office once you're settled."

Oneesan took control and tried to ignore the way Mai tensed up at the sight of her. "Tell Pegasus that I will see him after I've eaten."

"Yes, Miss Mutou." The man nodded. She could hear him talking to Pegasus on his radio as they headed further into the castle. She only cared a little bit. If she could inconvenience the King of this castle, she would do so. After everything he had done to them, a little inconvenience for him was the least she wanted to cause. If it was not for Imoto-chan's ethics, she would have gone after him in a way that Bakura would probably approve of.

Speaking of Bakura, she seemed to have disappeared by the time they entered the kitchen, where several cooks were rushing around to prepare a meal. Oneesan could not help but wonder where she had gone and what she was up to as she and her friends sat down at a small table that was probably for staff and Mai ordered food.

Bakura, being who she was, was probably doing something illegal, and the spirit of the Puzzle tried not to think about it too hard as she tucked into lunch. Thinking about the Thief Queen made her mind go back to the accusations that she had been throwing around, and the Pharaoh did not know how to handle them.

She did not want to believe that she had sent her right-hand man after a friend on false charges. Even if there had been an assassination attempt, from what she knew of Bakura now, it would not have been she who had arranged it. Poison was not her style. She would have wanted to make it slow and agonising. She would have been there to twist the knife herself, and she would have made sure Oneesan had known exactly why she was killing her before she let her die.

She wondered if he had gone off to hunt Bakura without her permission. If the Pharaoh had been poisoned, then she could have been too sick to stop him. It was likely he had gone off to arrest the Thief Queen without her say so, but she could not know. Too much of her own past was lost. Surrendered to stop Bakura's rampage all those years ago.

She felt reassurance and care bounce down the link from her little sister and sighed. She could not focus on the Bakura issue right now. She needed to get Ojiisan freed from his soul prison. That had to take priority.

"I wonder what Pegasus wants to talk to you about." Mai looked curious as the kitchen staff put sandwiches on the table. "He hasn't seen me."

"You need to be careful around Pegasus," Oneesan warned her. "He can read minds."

"You know, before last night I would have said that's impossible," the older woman told her, sitting back. "Now I want to know how."

The spirit of the Puzzle paused and glanced around, checking there was no one close enough to listen in. When she was sure it was safe, she sighed. "I'm not the only one with a Millennium Item. Pegasus's allows him to read minds."

"Oh lovely." Mai grimaced, not happy about that in the slightest. "So magic's more intertwined with this game then I realised."

"Looks like," Jou agreed, looking as amused as Mai felt. "We need to work out something to get around him."

"We will." Yugi took over and smiled at her friends, trying to be reassuring "We have time. We don't duel until tomorrow."

That thought made the others relax a little, and they all sat back and tucked into their sandwiches.

"I guess the real question is, who's going to be the fourth?" Mai sighed. "I thought I saw Kaiba stalk through here, so it might be him, but I didn't know he was competing."

_'Neither did he.'_ Yugi had to hide her amusement at Oneesan's comment.

"I didn't see how many star chips he had, but if anyone's going to get in here it's him." The Puzzle holder shrugged, then paused at the look Mai was giving her. "What?"

"You have a crush, don't you?" Mai teased. She suddenly wondered if she had said the wrong thing as Jou's face darkened and Yugi winced. "What?"

"I don't... He's a friend. Maybe. I don't really think about guys that way," she admitted, uncomfortable with the thought after some of the interactions she had had with her male bullies.

"So you like girls?" Mai pressed, curiously.

"No. I just don't... There's not been anyone I liked that way. I'm only fifteen, I've got time to work it out," she defended herself, not really wanting to talk about it and wondering why Jou's shoulders sank a little.

"Wait, fifteen?" Anzu paused. "When was your birthday?"

Yugi winced. While Honda's birthday had come and gone with great fanfare from their group, her birthday had been just after Death-T and she had not been in the mood to celebrate it. Her Ojiisan had given her a present, but he had not been well enough to arrange anything too special, and she had just let her friends think it was another day. "Last term," was all she said, hoping they would drop it and leave it alone.

"What date?" Anzu continued to push, pursing her lips, irritated that she had not told them.

"June 4th." Yugi's answer made Anzu pause as she tried to work out what they had been doing around then. Then she grimaced.

"Oh... Right..." she said slowly as it hit her what had been happening around then.

"It's cool, we'll just celebrate it twice as hard next year." Jou grinned at the girls, trying to break the mood as they finished their food.

Yugi stared at her plate as she ate. She did not want to think about guys or dating, or dating girls. She really did not know how she felt about any of it and it did not matter anyway. Anyone she dated needed to be accepting of her older sister. She could imagine it would not be easy for her to find anyone willing to date both of them. And her birthday had not been important. It had just been another bad day in a run of them. Just like it had been every year so far. It did not matter.

"I guess I should go and see what Pegasus wants." She broke the silence that had fallen as she stood up, noticing that a goon who had been waiting by the door stood to attention at her movement. "I'll be back soon."

"You want backup?" Jou asked, concerned.

"I'll be okay." Yugi shook her head, not wanting her friends anywhere near Pegasus due to his delight in making her suffer through attacking those close to her. "Go crash out for a while. I'll come down to the rooms and do the same once I've spoken with him."

Jou nodded, clearly not happy about it but willing to follow Yugi's suggestion.

Yugi smiled at her friends over her shoulder as she headed over to join the mook. "See you all later."

"Be careful," Anzu said, worry clear on her face.

"I will, I promise."


	14. Testing

Without her friends to back her up, Yugi's walk through the castle was unnerving. It looked like a traditional castle in the western styles that she had seen in film and anime. Instead of the more normal torch-lit hallways, however, the corridors had been laced with electricity, allowing for modern lighting, not that Yugi was entirely happy about it. The way the lights were placed was causing her a headache and casting odd shadows behind the various gargoyles and statues she passed.

 _'Imoto-chan, I want to take the lead.'_ Anesan nudged her gently over their bond. _'It'll give you a chance to test your theory, and he's already used to my mind and the way it works.'_

 _'You don't want him knowing about me, do you?'_ Yugi was not entirely surprised. She knew her older sister was protective of her, and she had been able to sense the dark spirit's brief moment of panic when she had thought Pegasus was going to take the Penalty out on her little sister.

 _'Am I that obvious?'_ The spirit of the Puzzle sounded sheepish.

 _'Only to me.'_ Yugi tried to be reassuring. _'We're too closely linked to hide anything from each other. It's like you can tell when I'm upset or worried, even if I'm trying to hide it.'_

 _'Like now? When I can sense you're worried I don't think you can handle Pegasus's mind games?'_ Anesan chuckled over the bond, making Yugi sigh. _'I promise, dear one, it's not because I think you're weak or can't handle him. It's just that we're both overtired because of that ass last night, and quite frankly I would much rather tell Pegasus to go and...'_

 _'Swivel?'_ Yugi offered, amused by her sister's hesitation and wondering if she was trying not to use some of the more vulgar words that Jou had used around them.

 _'On a sword,'_ Anesan agreed. _'I would much rather go tell him to swivel on a sword than have a meeting with him right now. If he has to interact with one of us, I'd prefer it was me because he's already been far enough into my head to know my fears. I don't really want him finding out yours, too. Plus, like I said, it'll give you a chance to try your theory out.'_

 _'So we're going to go with my plan?'_ Yugi asked hopefully as they were guided to a door labelled 'Office.'

 _'I didn't say that,'_ the spirit of the Puzzle huffed at her. _'I'm just willing to test your theory, that's all. I don't want you...'_ She trailed off as the door swung open and she felt her sister mentally step back so she could take control.

"Yugi-girl, come on in." Pegasus sounded warm and welcoming, but Oneesan did not trust it as she took over. She paused before entering, remembering what Mai had said, and dropped her illusion before stepping into the office. She did not deign to respond to his smile except to give him an ill-amused look. "Welcome to my castle. I knew you'd make it here."

The spirit of the Puzzle let out a soft snort as she felt something rummaging around in her mind, looking for something. "It's not like you gave me much of a choice. Also, get out of my head."

"What's the matter, Yugi-girl? Afraid I'll find out about your little sister?" Pegasus's smirk widened as the girl in front of him hesitated momentarily. "Oh, don't worry, I'm already aware of her. I know everything that's said in my Duel Boxes. Why don't you bring her out to meet me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Oneesan huffed, unsure if he was telling the truth or if Bakura had told on them when she had made her deal with the Lord of the Castle. "I don't have a sister."

"Don't be coy, Yugi-girl," Pegasus chuckled, leaning forward on his elbows, enjoying having her off balance. A dark smugness echoed in the back of his mind as he watched the girl squirm. "I know you have a little sister. The friend I sent to play with you made that quite clear. I believe he threatened to kill her and make you watch."

Oneesan scowled at the reminder of the false Kaiba that had tried to kill them. She could feel reassurance trickle over the bond from her little sister, but did not respond. She did not want to let Pegasus follow their soul bond to the most important person in her world. She had killed to protect Imoto-chan before; she would do it again if she had no other choice.

"Ah, there we go." Her eyes narrowed at Pegasus's smug tone. "There's what I wanted you to start thinking about. Your 'Imoto-chan.' You might as well reveal her to me."

"Stay. Out. Of. My. Head." She pushed back at his mental probe, anger flaring up at his audacity. Briefly the clash of magics allowed her to feel something from deep within her adversary's mind: a smug, proud feeling laced with hatred towards her that revelled in her distress and wanted to cause more. That sensation made her recoil and clamp down on her emotions. She would not give Pegasus the pleasure of upsetting her.

Then it hit her. He was asking her to reveal Imoto-chan. He could not reach her himself and he was pushing her to think about what he needed. With her mind bound to the ever-changing, seemingly infinite Millennium Puzzle, it seemed he could not reach deeper into it than her most recent thoughts and instinctual fears.

"It seems your powers aren't as omniscient as you'd like," she commented causally, back in control of the situation with the knowledge that, while she could not hide her moves in a Duel from him that way, he could not get anything important out of her mind. She just needed to prove it. "Go on. You want to find out about Imoto-chan, try reading my mind. There's plenty in there for you to find on her."

Pegasus snorted, amused, and suddenly she could feel him in her mind, rummaging around as roughly as Imoto-chan tore through her bedroom when she was running late for school and could not find her jacket. It hurt, and she could feel her sister flee into her soul room and slam her door shut, escaping the darkness flooding through the corridor on its way into Oneesan's mind. However, she could feel the irritation in his actions, and that made it worth it because it proved her right.

When the power withdrew, Pegasus looked intrigued. "You have such an interesting mind, Yugi-girl, or should I say Your Highness?"

"I'm Mutou Yugi. Nothing more, nothing less," Oneesan replied, slightly disappointed in herself for allowing her desire to know her past to be forefront enough in her mind that Pegasus could find it.

Pegasus smirked at her comment. "So much more, but it doesn't matter right now. You might be able to hide that precious little sister of yours from me, but I'll warn you both. Only one soul will be allowed to fight me in the title match. Try to cheat, and you forfeit your grandfather's soul."

"Unlike you, Pegasus, we don't cheat," the spirit of the Puzzle stated coldly. "We don't kidnap family members, we don't need to read our opponent's mind to be able to beat them, and we aren't the ones who used subliminal messaging to mess with someone's head. If anyone here is a cheat, it's you, but let me guess, you're just like Bakura in that you don't think it's cheating because you make the rules?"

The ill-amused stare she got in return was answer enough.

"What's the matter? Don't like being called out?" Oneesan asked with an amused chuckle. "You can't deny the truth."

"It doesn't matter what you think, Yugi-girl. You and I will fight if you prove yourself to be stronger than your opponents in the finals, and I will take what I need from you. Remember, only one soul will be allowed to fight me in the title match, so you'd better choose carefully. Yourself or your little sister. Whoever it is in the end, I will be the one to walk away with the Millennium Puzzle." Pegasus's confidence did not bother her.

"Are you quite done grandstanding?" Imoto-chan's emergence from her soul room coincided with Oneesan's question, and the slight giggle she heard over the link more than made up for having to put up with the man before her.

"I have nothing more to say to you." Crawford's irritated tone made her morning. "I've made myself quite clear."

"Then we're done here," Oneesan snorted, getting the final word in before stalking out of the room, glancing back over her shoulder as the door shut, catching a glimpse of Pegasus giving her a horribly familiar, dark, look as he turned back to his computer before the door slammed behind her.

She tried to shake the uncomfortable feeling the look had created. She did not know Pegasus well enough for anything of him to be familiar. She was probably just overtired. They had not really rested properly since they had gotten on the boat, so their physical energy was stretched, and she had been on guard ever since they had left the shop, so she was low on mental energies, too. Plus, Pegasus really had not been gentle when he had been raiding her mind. She needed to rest as much as her Imoto-chan did, something that was proven when a hand rested on her shoulder and she startled, wheeling around and very nearly blasting the one it belonged to with Shadow magic before she realised it was Jou.

"I thought Imoto-chan told you to go get some rest?" the former Pharaoh huffed at him, trying to calm down. The weirdness in the office had clearly unsettled her.

"Like we'd leave you alone with that jerk," Jou huffed back, nodding towards the door she had just exited.

"Are you okay?" Anzu asked her, clearly worried as they headed for the guest rooms.

Oneesan shrugged. "Been worse. He didn't try anything new, if that's what you mean."

The way her friends relaxed at that told her that it was. Jou grinned and said, "So he was just trying to psyche you out? Lame."

Oneesan could not help the chuckle that escaped at that. That was a pretty accurate description of what had just happened, and they had come out of it with some useful information. "Apparently he knows about Imoto-chan and warned us that we're only allowed to use one soul to challenge him in the title match."

"Umm..." Jou hesitated and checked that no one was following them before he asked, "Aren't you and Yuge just one person? You're two halves of the same soul, right? So you only have one soul."

Oneesan paused, then let out a delighted laugh that startled her friends.

"You okay, 'neesan?" Jou prodded her in the arm.

"Fine. Fine." She waved his concern off. "It just means he didn't get as much out of my head as I thought he did."

"Does this mean you can stop him reading your cards now?" Anzu asked her as they reached the room Yugi had been assigned.

"Not yet, but I can work with this." The spirit of the Puzzle grinned. "Now please excuse me. I'm going to get some rest, and I suggest you all do, too." With that she vanished back into the Puzzle, leaving Yugi in control to enter the guest room.

Her friends slipped in behind her as she examined the room, which was actually more like a small suite, with a small sitting area with a sofa and table where she could work on her deck later, a bathroom with a shower, sink, and toilet, and a bedroom with a rather comfy looking bed that was just calling her name.

"Nice room,." Jou commented, sprawling on her sofa in the least dignified way possible and making her laugh and Anzu roll her eyes. "Think it's got cable?"

"No TV." Anzu shook her head, ignoring Jou's half-fake sulk as she watched Yugi. The girl seemed to be checking the room over.

"Huh... Pegasus respects privacy more than Kaiba did," she commented, surprised, as she sat on the arm of the sofa.

"What do you mean?" Jou's confusion made her pause.

"You didn't notice the security cameras in your bedroom in the Kaiba Mansion?" When Jou first went embarrassed and then turned a furious shade of red, Yugi winced, guessing that he had not. "Plus side, none here."

"Kaiba is a prick and I hate him," Jou stated, slamming his hand onto the sofa hard enough to make it shake. Yugi squeaked at the sensation and Jou sat up, sighing, "Sorry, Yuge."

The girl shrugged as Anzu asked, "So, what's the plan?"

"I'm going to take a nap," Yugi admitted with a yawn, "and then I have a few things I want to do to my deck. What about you two?"

"We'll entertain ourselves, right, Anzu?" Jou gave the taller girl a sharp look, causing her to nod.

"Sorry," Yugi apologised as she headed for her bedroom.

"Hey, no need to apologise, Yuge. Just rest up so you can kick ass tomorrow. You're gunna need it. I'm thinking about doing the same." Jou shook his head, watching her until she shut the bedroom door behind her.

Once it was closed, Anzu looked at him. "So, sticking around in here so no one can sneak in while she's out like a light?"

"Anzu," Jou chuckled, "you read my mind."

* * *

The island had gotten quiet and Kaiba was unsurprised.

Star Chips were a finite resource. There were at least enough Star Chips for four competitors to enter the castle. Half of those Chips had already entered the castle, more if he had been right and that had been Kujaku Mai he had seen on his way out of the castle.

He suspected there were spares floating around somewhere. It would have been foolish to only have forty available, in case some got lost. However, there were many other elements that could have decreased the number available. For example, Eliminators like the one Yugi had fought with last night would have taken a considerable amount of Star Chips out of circulation, leaving very few for him to find and very few competitors available for him to challenge.

He was still trying to decide if he had made a mistake by letting Yugi walk past him. He knew that he had let a lot of Star Chips go, but the Kaibas owed the Mutous too great a debt to be the reason their family was torn apart. It would be different when he and Yugi ended up on opposite sides of the duelling field and they were forced to fight, but he repaid his debts, so he had no desire to deliberately place himself between Yugi and her route to her grandfather. That plus he refused to fight her at anything less than her best, and with her near-collapse during the Shadow Game last night, he suspected that, despite her best efforts to hide it, she was not currently able to duel at that standard.

Her mutt would have been easy pickings. The thug was barely a beginner at Duel Monsters; taking his Star Chips would have been simple. However, again, the issue had been Yugi. The girl was overly protective of her friends, and Mokuba had mentioned overhearing that Jonouchi was fighting to earn the money for his sister's operation. There was no way Yugi would have allowed him to challenge her guard dog without stepping in.

It did not matter. They were gone, their Star Chips had gone with them, and now there was a whole island to search and just over half a day to do so. It worked in his favour anyway. He had new equipment to test: a new virtual duel system that would blow the Duel Boxes out of the water if it worked. Not only that, but if there was a chance that Crawford's Millennium Eye could not let the cheat into his mind without eye contact, the distance between him and the creator of Duel Monsters was imperative. The new Duel Disk system would give him more room to manoeuvre.

Plus he was certain the Duel Boxes were laced with cameras and microphones. Using his Duel Disk system to challenge people would prevent the CEO of Industrial Illusions from tracking him.

His gaze passed over Honda, and he suppressed a grimace. He did not like Yugi's more reserved bodyguard. He was harder to read and had very little in his past that could be used to manipulate him. Kaiba was not entirely sure of the teen's goals except that he seemed determined to keep his friends safe. He had not wanted anyone else along, but he seemed content to stick close to Mokuba, and right now Seto needed someone to do that. His brother had already worked out a payment scheme, so he was not going to mess with it.

"Oniisan," Mokuba asked quietly as they reached the bend of the creek they had followed away from the castle, "are you really okay?"

"I'm..." He paused as the real fear and concern in his little brother's eyes and posture made him realise just how frightened his brother had been. He glanced at Honda and was pleased to see that the teen turned his back, giving them some privacy, which allowed him to kneel to his brother's height and hug the boy tightly.

"I'm here Mokie," he reassured the most important person in his world. "I'm awake and I'm not leaving you ever again. I promise. I'm going to beat Crawford at his twisted little game and we're going to go home."

He could feel the child in his arms shaking badly as Mokuba asked, "You promise? You'll really come home?"

Confusion hit him as he tried to work out what his brother meant and he wondered if he should have tried to get more than a situation report last night. "What do you mean, Mokie?"

"You haven't been you in forever." The boy's voice shook as badly as his body was. "Oneesan promised you'd be you again when you came back... I've been waiting and looking after you and Kaiba Corp... or trying to. I'm sorry..."

"You did the best you could, Ototo," Seto promised him with a sigh, holding him just a little tighter, not sure how he could reassure the boy, "and I'm proud of you."

The slight squeak was the only response he got before Mokuba burst into tears for only the second time in a couple of years. The elder Kaiba held the younger through it, letting his brother get it out, understanding that this whole mess was so much more than Mokuba should ever have had to go through.

As the boy finally calmed and pulled away, looking like getting the tears out had allowed him to settle himself, he asked, "What about Yugi's Ojiisan? Can we help him, too?"

"You want to help the Mutous?" Seto asked, surprised. Mokuba had never been particularly altruistic before now, and he wondered what had been said to his brother for him to ask.

"Yugi's helped us. It'll settle a debt." The older brother let out an amused huff at the response given. That was entirely more like Mokie. "And we have a lot of debt to settle."

"Yes, we do," the CEO allowed. "Only the winner of the tournament gets to fight Crawford, so adding the release of Yugi's Ojiisan to my prize demands will settle most of it. We can worry about the rest once we get back to Domino. Have you eaten since you got here?"

Mokuba shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. "You're going to be mad at me."

"I'll be more angry if you keep avoiding the question," Seto huffed at him.

"Pegasus was keeping me fed, but once I escaped I needed to..." Mokuba trailed off as Seto stiffened up. "Oniisan?"

Honda moved before Seto could respond to the rustling he had heard in the nearby bushes, preventing someone jumping the older Kaiba brother from behind by punching them in the face and sending them sprawling.

The CEO shot to his feet, scowling harshly at the teenager who had attacked them, noting that he was not wearing the glove that depicted him as a Duellist.

"Whose attack dog are you?" Kaiba asked coldly as Honda moved to cover Mokuba, doing his job as the boy's bodyguard.

"I ain't no one's attack dog," the boy snapped back. "I'm just tryin' to get back into the competition. Bandit Keith stabbed me in the back."

"Let me guess. You were foolish enough to accept his help in getting through the first day, and he robbed you in your sleep." It was not a question. Kaiba knew Keith's reputation well. The man was a Prize Hunter who would do whatever it took to make money. He was also a decent enough Duellist that he would give the new hologram system a workout, unlike this scrub who was a waste of his time. "Where is he right now?"

"There's a cave system just around the corner. The prick is hiding in there with more goons," the kid spat out. Seto could not bring himself to care about his anger. If the teen was dumb enough to work with Bandit Keith, then he deserved everything he got. "If you still need Star Chips, then there's plenty in there."

Honda glanced at the elder Kaiba brother, as able to smell a trap as the CEO was. The kid might have legitimately had his Star Chips taken, but his former allies had clearly set up an ambush for anyone who entered the caves. Still, Honda had promised to look after Mokuba, so if Kaiba wanted to walk into the trap for Star Chips, then he would follow. It was no different than following one of Jou's madcap schemes, after all.

"Thanks for the information. Now get lost before I make you." Honda watched the CEO snort irritably at the teen, who fled without further comment, then turn to look at him, considering him for a moment before nodding. "Stay close to Mokuba. I'll take the lead."

"You're going after Keith?" Mokuba asked, his tone cautious, like he was double checking rather than worried.

"I need the Star Chips, and Keith is an easy mark. He's never lasted more than five turns against me." Seto nodded. "If he's knocking out his thugs one by one, he's guaranteed to have enough to get me into that castle."

Which was a good thing. The later it was getting, the worse he felt. Whatever Pegasus had done to him in his office was weighing heavily on him, making him tired and irritable. He knew he should have asked Yugi about it, but she had said that she could not interfere. She had been very specific on that, too, meaning that whatever was wrong with him, it was not something she could fix.

Not that he wanted her to. He owed her far too much as it was. He did not wish to add to that debt. Besides, all he had to do was get into the castle before sunset, and he would have fulfilled the task Pegasus had given him. He suspected that would end the issue. After all, Yugi's Penalties had ended the moment he had fulfilled the out clause. This one would be no different.

He led the group a little further around the bend in the creek, revealing a cave that had far too smooth an entrance to be entirely naturally made, with a horrendously fake inflatable boulder sitting just outside in a position that showed it had probably rolled out after the goon that had attacked them. Inside it was dark, and just enough light came from the torches that were spread along the walls that they could see what were supposed to be bones scattered along the passageway and chains hanging from the walls.

Honda tried not to be unnerved as he kicked away what looked like a femur, only for it to bounce into one of the many skulls lining the tunnel. He hated haunted houses, especially after Kaiba's 'Murderer's Mansion' back during Death-T. Thankfully, there did not look to be any killers here, at least not ones like the Chopman, and as the skull bounced along the stone floor, he could catch a glimpse of 'Made in China' written within it in black lettering.

"I'm pretty sure your attractions were much better built," he commented casually to Mokuba, who smirked at him proudly.

"Of course they were. We're Kaibas. We don't do anything by halves." The boy sounded proud, and Honda heard the elder brother let out a soft, amused noise. "If we're going to make a death trap, you can bet it's going to be the best-looking and best-built one out there."

Honda could not help the quiet chuckle that escaped at that. At least Mokuba was being honest about their intentions for those games, though he suspected that he would not have been so open about it if there had been anyone else around.

"Quiet." Seto held up a hand as they approached a branching point, which split into two paths, one which continued the creepy graveyard theme and another which seemed to turn into a labyrinth of sorts. They stayed silent for a few minutes, trying to hear any noises that would tell them which way Keith had gone.

Silence echoed down the passageways, increasing the creepiness factor as they waited. The sounds of water dripping and chains clanking irritated them as they tried to listen for real noises, rather than the recorded ones that were on a loop to creep people out.

Finally, just as Honda was about ready to break the nearest speaker in order to hear what was going on further into the cave system, the quiet sounds of someone talking come from the graveyard path, drawing them down that path and deeper into the tunnel system under the island.

It twisted down and around, getting gradually darker and more misty as they went until they emerged out into a full graveyard cavern, where a huge brute of a Duelist wearing a USA flag bandana was insulting and kicking around a small teen who could not be any bigger than Yugi, whose face looked like some kind of skull mask, and whose glove contained three Star Chips, while another kid lay sprawled on the floor, stunned, with his empty Dueling Glove lying feet from him.

"Bandit Keith." Kaiba's voice came across cold and clear, making the huge brute turn to look at them.

"Seto Kaiba. I didn't expect to see you here." The thug smirked as he drove his boot into the kid's head, rendering the boy fully unconscious and allowing him to take the three Chips, bringing his own total up to nine. "What do you want?"

"I challenge you." Seto held up his duelling glove, showing off his five golden stars.

"Only five? You've gotten slack while you've been sick." The elder Kaiba tried not to bristle at the brush off. "I would say I ain't got time for you, but it's getting late, so you know what? Sure. We'll duel here and now. There's even a box for us to fight in." He gestured to the Wasteland Duel Box, which Seto could easily guess would assist the thug before him.

"Actually, I have something better for you to try," Kaiba informed him, opening the steel briefcase he had been carrying to reveal two disc-shaped contraptions, one of which he pulled out to show the Prize Hunter. "The new Kaiba Corp Duel Disk. Win and I'll let you take them to the highest bidder. Lose and I get your Star Chips."

He had the brute. There was no way Keith would turn down a prize like that. Unreleased Kaiba Corp technology sold for millions. Seto was fully aware of that from sales of leaked, unfinished tech that he had managed to block.

"Sure, chuck me one of those." Bandit Keith practically slobbered. Kaiba could almost see the dollar signs in his eyes as he tried on the arm piece. "So how do they work?"

"I'll show you." Seto smirked. "My move first." He drew and tried not to be amused. If a deck could have feelings, and, after the first Penalty Yugi had given him, where he had supposedly been made to feel what his monsters had been feeling, he was almost certain it could, it was clear that his had missed him as it gave him a perfect opening hand.

"I summon Lord of D. in Attack Mode and activate Flute of Summoning Dragon, allowing me to Special Summon two of my Blue Eyes White Dragons before playing one card face down," Kaiba informed Keith, placing the cards in the correct places on the second part of his disc and sending it spinning across the floor like a low flying frisbee. The motion pulled on a starter within, powering up the hologram projectors to reveal his creatures, who glared at their opponent, just seeming to want to get this match over with.

"Your move, Keith."


	15. Mechanised Mayhem

Bandit Keith could not entirely believe what he was seeing as he stared at two Blue-Eyes White Dragons and a Lord of D. He had yet to make a move and he was already staring defeat in the face. Kaiba had to be cheating. There was no other explanation for such an insane first move.

Still, two could play at that game, and should the worst happen and he lose the duel, it was no great loss. The brat of a CEO had made a huge mistake by handing him a piece of technology worth millions of dollars. Win or lose, he was walking away from this duel better off than he had started it because there was no way he was giving up something worth that much money.

He drew his opening hand and smirked. It was not a great hand, but between it and the 7 Completed cards hidden under his wristband he could work with it to wipe the smug smirk off of the kid's face.

"I summon Slot Machine," Keith informed Kaiba, setting the monster in the right slot on the new Duel Disk, before using the body of the machine to pull a second 7 Completed out from under his wristband to join the one he had drawn, "and equip it with two 7 Completed cards, increasing its attack by 1400."

Suddenly those two Blue-Eyes White Dragons looked a lot less intimidating. He set the Duel Disk spinning, and the hologram that appeared showed off his new monster's stats at 3600/2300, more than enough attack to handle a dragon. Still, that was not the target of his attack.

"I'm taking out that Lord of D," he announced, pointing at the monster in question, eagerly anticipating almost wiping out Kaiba's life points as his monster launched a laser from both cannons.

"I activate Negate Attack." Kaiba's smug call as he pressed a button on his arm guard irritated his opponent, who watched his powerful laser blast get sucked up in a vortex of wind. "You'll have to do better than that."

Kaiba was much less amused than he seemed as he took in the field. He would have accused the Prize Hunter of cheating, but he did not have any proof. He would need to work out a way of installing anti-cheating software in the full version of the equipment. Not that he was worried. His deck had more than one way to deal with the Slot Machine; he just needed to draw the right card.

The Monster Reborn he drew this turn, however, was not helpful. He flicked his wrist, causing the spinning disk to return to him. As he switched the creatures on his Duel Disk to defence mode and spun the disk back out, he made a mental note that it was a little awkward to catch and would require some adaptions if it was going to be practical for commercial use.

"I switch my creatures to defence mode," Kaiba informed his opponent as the Duel Disk's hologram system activated and revealed his beasts, "and end my turn."

He watched the thug opposite him carefully as he drew. Keith Howard, aka Bandit Keith, was a known thief whose already poor reputation had been completely ruined by Crawford during the International Challenge tournament held in America a couple of years back. Of course, now that Kaiba knew how Crawford had been able to read Keith's moves down to the last turn in advance and write them down for a novice to read off and follow, it had been unfair to Howard, but to everyone else it looked like Keith was a predictable and pathetic duelist whom even a non-duelist could beat with the right coaching.

The man's rapid descent into drink and drugs, along with the rumours that were circulating about how Howard was obtaining them, meant that Kaiba was half-expecting his opponent to try to walk off with the Duel Disk once the battle was done. Even so, he needed to test the equipment before he used it against anyone of any real importance, and at worst he could temporarily brick the system to stop the thief walking off with it when the duel was over.

"I summon Giganto," Howard informed him, smirking, as he summoned a ridiculous-looking machine monster that almost looked like a spinning top whose handle had axes and spike balls on chains attached to it. Its stats came up at 1700/1800, making it more than a match for Lord of D., who did not stand a chance as it spun into him, wiping him out in one hit.

The Slot Machine's second attempt at an attack struck one of Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragons, and he mentally grimaced as he felt something wrench within him at its destruction. While his dragons had always been his pride and reputation, he had never been connected enough to them that their passing had bothered him. He was going to have words with Yugi if his duelling was affected by the Penalty he had gone through because of her.

"You're a has-been, Kaiba," Keith crowed at him, confident in his victory. "Letting some non-competitive chick take your title? She ain't even a teenager yet and she's already World Champ? You've fallen far."

"Not as far as you." Kaiba's tone was calm but flat, and he saw Mokuba wince upon hearing it, well aware that his brother was a lot crosser than he looked. "You're scum. You can't even call yourself a Duellist any more. At least my opponent was a Duellist: yours was a random crowd member." Then his tone turned sharp and a little vindictive. "Besides, Yugi was fourteen when she won. She was the same age as me. Tom was what, nine?"

That pushed the machine duelist's buttons, and if looks could kill, the glare he gave Kaiba would have killed him on the spot. "Pegasus gave him help. You got beat by some chick who had never entered a competition. That means you're lower on the totem pole than me, you brat, and I'm going to keep you there."

"No, you're not." Kaiba snorted as he drew De-Spell, wondering if the hit to his reputation would be as bad if Yugi had been male. He pulled back the Duel Disk and activated both the De-Spell he had just pulled and the Monster Reborn in his hand, reducing Slot Machine's attack to 2900 and calling back his Blue-Eyes from the graveyard.

He switched his other dragon into attack mode and spun his equipment out. The pair roared in sync as they appeared, launching twin attacks that blew Keith's monsters away, costing the mech duelist 1400 life points in one shot, taking him down to 600.

Honda shifted to cover Mokuba as he saw Bandit Keith check his waistband, and he caught a glance at silver tucked into it. Keith was armed and there was no way that Honda would allow the boy he was supposed to be protecting to get shot by a sore loser.

Kaiba had seen exactly the same thing and braced himself to go for the heavy-feeling gun in the inside pocket of his trench coat. It turned out unnecessary as his opponent huffed and drew, a guffaw escaping as he beheld the card in question.

"You're done, Kaiba!" he crowed at the teen opposite him as he subtly slipped the last equip card out from under his wristband. "I summon my Barrel Dragon and equip it with 7 Completed!"

Mokuba hissed, as certain as his brother that Keith's luck was entirely cheating, as the three-headed mechanical dragon appeared on the field. The holographic display showed that its attack grew to 3300, more than enough to tackle a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and that was not all.

Kaiba was suddenly very aware that the duel could be over any second. Barrel Dragon had the chance to attack up to three times. There was a fifty-fifty chance on each head, and if it got three attacks, it was all over. It would destroy both his dragons and attack him directly, ending the duel.

Keith knew it, too, smirking broadly as he looked up at his dragon. "You're done, Kaiba, and once I'm done with you, I'm going to crush your girl, and then I'll be World Champion."

Kaiba snorted. He did not lose. Barrel Dragon was all about luck. There was no way he was going down on this turn. He refused to consider the possibility. Not that Bandit Keith would stand a chance against Yugi if he duelled against her. Oneesan would tear him apart for cheating.

As the holographic system started spinning the attack wheels, determining the number of attacks he would have to defend himself from, Kaiba tried not to show that he was worried. If he lost here, then it was over. He would not get the chance to re-enter the castle, and he was not sure what Pegasus's Penalty would do to him.

The three spinners started to slow. Kaiba braced himself as briefly all three spinners rested on green, then, thankfully two of them slipped over the edge into the black, leaving only one displaying an oncoming attack. The middle head of the Barrel Dragon lit up as it charged an attack, unleashing a beam of light so bright that it left a trail behind it. The blast struck the reincarnated dragon, who bellowed in pain and vanished once again, with the same wrenching feeling as last time.

Kaiba did not mind the lost of 300 life points, though. It could have been so much worse for him than dropping to a total of 1700. He still had a Blue-Eyes, and he still had life points. The duel was not over.

Not yet. It all depended on this turn. He needed to make this turn count because Barrel Dragon now only needed two successes to blow him out of the duel.

He drew, trusting in himself and his luck, and was rewarded with the trap card, Shadow Spell. He hid his delight at the draw as he set the card face down and ended the turn without saying anything. He did not need to sink to the Prize Hunter's level. He was so far above the brute that he did not even have to dignify any comments Keith made with a response.

He set the trap card face down, holding himself cold and calm, knowing his opponent well enough to know he would not be able to resist trying to go for the kill as long as Kaiba did not give him a reason to do otherwise. "Your move."

"Is that all you can do, Kaiba?" Bandit Keith smirked at him, trying to bait him. "You're not even trying, are you? I think you want to lose."

"Just make your move." Kaiba did not rise to it, staring at him unflinchingly.

Keith blinked first, turning his attention to his Duel Disk and drawing, not bothering to play a card before he ordered, "Barrel Dragon, end the duel!"

The moment the attack spinners came up, Kaiba smirked. "I don't think so."

"What?" his opponent demanded, shocked.

"I activate Shadow Spell," he informed his adversary, pressing the right button to cause the trap to flip up. Chains launched out of the card, wrapping around the robot dragon on the other side of the field, decreasing its attack by the 700 that the 7 Completed had given it and preventing it from attacking.

"You absolute bastard!" Bandit Keith swore at him, furious as he beheld the trapped monster. His hand was full of useless cards. He had nothing in there that could get him out of this mess. If his opponent drew a monster now, the duel was over.

"Does that mean it's my turn?" Kaiba asked, his tone sharp and viciously amused. If the Prize Hunter was swearing, it meant the duel was almost over and Keith knew it.

The response he got was rude and inappropriate even for banter between arch-rivals, but he took it to mean yes and drew, victory confirmed when he saw he had drawn a monster card.

It was kind of fitting, too. The Saggi the Dark Clown he had pulled would knock this clown out of the competition. He pulled back his Duel Disk and summoned the clown in question, ignoring the language that poured from his opponent's mouth in favour of calling, "Blue-Eyes, destroy his dragon!"

Electricity and light rained down on the mechanical monstrosity, destroying it entirely and wiping out 400 of Keith's life points, not that it mattered, because his Saggi immediately launched a ball of dark energy that knocked Keith back a couple of steps and erased the last of his life points, winning Kaiba the duel.

Immediately Bandit Keith lived up to his reputation of doing anything for money by drawing his gun and pointing at his opponent. Kaiba did not dare to reach for his own while Keith was focused on him. "Winning means nothing when I'm the one with the gun."

"We had a deal, Howard," Kaiba stated coldly, refusing to flinch and staring down the American brute as the man backed up slowly towards the exit, taking the Duel Disk prototype with him and noting with hidden relief that Honda was shifting so no matter what angle Keith was at, there was no clear line of sight from the gun-toting thug to Mokuba.

"Right, right, five star chips." The thug smirked, ejecting a handful of Star Chips from the gauntlet he was wearing and throwing them at the teenager.

"And my Duel Disk." The CEO did not respond to the stars bouncing off of his chest. Keith had gotten into enough fights to recognise the very, very still body language as someone ready to attack at any second. He smirked.

"Not happening." The American chuckled. "This little piece of tech is going to net me millions. I won't ever have to work again, and you were dumb enough to just hand it to me." He saw the slight grimace on the teen's face and it just made his smirk broader as he continued to back up. "Now, I'm taking a five minute head start, and if you try to catch up to me, you won't be leaving these caves alive. Got it?"

With that he backed far enough into the tunnel for them to lose sight of him.

"Shit." Honda breathed, his shoulders sinking once the danger had passed.

Kaiba did not respond to the curse as he pulled out his phone and tapped the code to brick the piece of technology by activating a small EMP pulse that fried the hard drive within it, needing to do so before the thief got too far away, and scowling when he realised he could not get any signal down here. He could not say he had not seen the Bandit's theft coming, but it was still rather irritating. He had hoped to use the Duel Disks against Pegasus, and he would have to build the technology all over again. He just had to hope he could get the signal out so he could prevent anyone getting to his code.

Mokuba darted over to him and scooped up the stars on the floor, frowning slightly, before hugging him, just glad his older brother was okay. Kaiba wrapped an arm around the boy, comforting him as he looked at Honda, seriously considering putting him on retainer after his behaviour when Keith had been waving a gun around. "How much is Mokuba paying you?"

"Enough to let me protect those I care about," Honda replied easily as Seto felt his brother flinch at his question. "I promised to keep him safe in exchange, so that's what I did."

The elder Kaiba nodded and looked down at his brother, pleased that he had, somehow, managed to get himself a loyal, competent bodyguard, and concerned at the flinch. "Are you alright, Mokuba?"

"Here's your Star Chips." Mokuba offered the five in his hand to his older brother, distracting him.

Some of his tiredness and the weight pressing down on him lifted as he slipped the golden tokens into place in his duelling glove, now that half the Penalty's out clauses were fulfilled, though he could not help but notice two of the golden chips were scuffed as he clipped them into place.

"We're getting that Duel Disk back, right?" his brother asked, certain of Seto's determination to do so.

Kaiba looked up the tunnel Keith had backed into. He had no desire to get his brother shot, but he needed to prevent that Duel Disk from leaving the island outside of his control unless he could fry the hard drive.

Honda frowned and moved to the entrance, checking up the passageway and sighing when it was clear as far as he could see. He was not a fan of the Kaibas, but theft was theft, and this was not just a small incident. He could easily see how this could cripple Kaiba Corp if a rival company got a hold of the technology and programming within the Duel Disk.

He was surprised to admit that he kind of wished Bakura were here. The Thief Queen would have taken horrible advantage of the situation, but she would have ensured the Duel Disk's recovery, if only so she could profit off of it.

"Coast is clear. I can check how far he's gone?" he offered, not particularly wanting to get shot, but at the same time not wanting Kaiba to go nuts again if his company crashed.

When the elder Kaiba nodded, he darted up the corridor, pausing at the bend just before the split-off point as the sounds of a scuffle reached his ears. He peeked around the corner as the sound of a gun firing echoed loudly down the hallway and a male voice screeched in fear and pain. Honda wondered what the hell Oneesan was doing here and hoped she had not just gotten herself shot.

What he found, however, was a rather pissed-off-looking Bakura, holding her right shoulder tightly, red seeping between her fingers as the Shadows swirled around her. Bandit Keith lay on the ground, foaming at the mouth, twitching in either pain or mental distress, not that he knew or cared as he asked, "Bakura? You okay?"

The glare he received in response nearly made him back up, but he stood his ground. The Thief Queen only respected the strong. Those who backed down to her did not get anything out of her. He had to prove that he respected her and her power, but did not fear her enough to flee if he was ever going to be allowed to find out more about what the hell had happened between her and Oneesan back in Egypt.

He did not believe the story was as clean cut as she had snarled out at the Pharaoh this morning, but he needed to earn Bakura's respect and trust before she would talk with him.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" The snap in her tone warned him he was treading on thin ice.

"Let me look," he said, stepping closer, noting that though her eyes narrowed, she did not stop him as he moved her hand away from the wound so he could examine it. "What made you jump Keith?"

"He jumped me," Bakura huffed, sounding exasperated. The Shadows faded away as he pulled out the first aid kit he had packed into his backpack and cleaned her shoulder. "I was using my Ring to work out where you and the Kaibas went and he tried to steal it from me." When Honda accidentally let out an amused snort, she glared at him and pulled away. "What?"

"Dumbass. Him. Not you," Honda explained, pleased when it caused her to relax enough to let him go back to treating her. "I'm surprised he got a shot off, though."

She grimaced at that, wincing when the antiseptic wipes stung. "Wasn't expecting him to have enough mind left to pull the trigger when the Penalty hit. Luckily for me his aim was off."

Honda nodded his understanding. "Well, you'll be pleased to know that it's not too bad."

The Thief Queen paused and then took a good look herself, visibly relaxing when she saw that the bullet had missed the bone on the outside and passed straight through. "Thank the Gods. Landlord would have been pissed."

Honda's eyes widened as something hit him. "You actually care about her, don't you?"

Every last millimetre of her tensed back up again, and the glare she aimed his way was deadly as she hissed out, "Tell the Pharaoh and I'll kill you myself and make it look like an accident."

"Easy, easy." Honda put his hands up, showing he was not a threat. He heard footsteps approaching from the direction of the graveyard, suggesting the Kaibas were catching up to them. "I won't tell her; she doesn't need to know right now. I was just surprised."

The ancient spirit huffed and half-relaxed again, slipping her sleeve down enough that Honda could roughly bandage the shoulder for her. "Of course I care for her. She's my other soul. She's brave enough to stand up to me for her friends, and without her I can't interact with the world. If I screw up and piss her off too badly, I'm done."

"Just like Oneesan and Yugi?" His cautious question made her look at him sharply. Then she nodded. "I know you don't like them, but you've got to remember, I only know this stuff from their side."

Bakura paused to consider that as the Kaibas came into sight. Honda waved them over and Mokuba's eyes widened as he spotted Keith on the floor, still twitching. He went to dart forward and grab the Duel Disk, only for his older brother to hold him back, eyes trained on Bakura.

"You dealt with him? Why?" he demanded of the Thief Queen, who straightened and stared him in the eyes, shifting her top back up as Honda tied off the bandage.

"Your brother owes me money. I don't let debts go easily." She deflected from the truth of her reasoning. "I never have done. That means dealing with any issues that could arise for the debtor."

Kaiba glanced down at his brother, who winced, remembering the agreement that he had made with the Thief Queen for her food. "How much?"

"That's between me and him," she informed the elder Kaiba, kneeling down and taking the Duel Disk off of Keith's arm, noting that the thug's duelling glove still had six Stars in it. "This is yours, I assume?"

"Hand it over." Kaiba's tone went ice cold as she examined the equipment carefully, only to then throw the surprisingly heavy piece of technology at him. He caught it and examined it carefully, frowning at the scratches on the projector disk from where it had hit the floor.

"Can we get out of here now?" Mokuba asked, wanting to get out of the dark, damp tunnel and avoid his brother asking the Thief Queen exactly how much his brother owed her again.

His older brother nodded, putting the equipment back in his briefcase as Honda packed away his first aid kit. Mokuba was relieved for the distraction. It was going to be hard enough to pay her off out of his personal account without Seto finding out how much she was owed as it was, without him finding out before he had to.

The boy knew that the Kaiba Seto who had fought Oneesan would have torn into him for offering that much money, but the Kaiba Seto he had grown up with would not have cared how much money he had spent as long as he was okay, and Mokuba did not know which version of his brother he was dealing with. He seemed more like the brother he had known before their adopted father had ruined him, but it had been too little time for him to really know.

"Come on, Mokuba." Seto's fleeting smile reassured the boy slightly that when the truth did come out, he might possibly not get yelled at. "Let's go."

They headed up the tunnel, making a beeline for the light at the end. Mokuba darted ahead, wanting to get out of the dank, dark, creepy cave. Honda tried to keep up, stopping just outside as the bright light hit his eyes, then tumbling back as someone hit him hard, sending him sprawling on the tunnel floor.

Already darting forward at the sign of trouble, Kaiba picked up speed at his little brother's startled and frightened cry that got cut off halfway through. He emerged into the daylight, the sun flash-blinding him. He only managed to avoid getting hit the way Honda had because he caught sight of an outline aiming for him, and he dodged under the oncoming blow before punching his attacker in what he was pretty sure was the face.

He felt something crack under his fist before someone hit him from behind, striking his head and driving him to the floor, dazed and confused.

Vision started to return as he heard the sounds of a struggle. He tried to pick himself up as Mokuba's voice briefly sounded, crying out his name. He did not get the chance to respond, catching sight of his brother held by some thug in a suit, gun to his head, before he was kicked in the stomach, sending him sliding into the cliff face.

"Don't move." A male voice, one Kaiba recognised as one of Pegasus's mooks, sounded by the entrance. He turned to glance at the cave, only to find Honda had a gun pointed at him.

"Let my brother go," Kaiba demanded, pushing himself to his hands and trying to ignore the way the world swam around him, wondering where the hell Bakura Amane had gone. They could have used her magic.

"Mr. Pegasus wants us to handle him. You can make your own way to the castle." The kidnapper smirked at him. "Now get back in the cave before I shoot you."

Kaiba did not care about his own safety. He staggered to his feet, drawing his own gun and levelling it at the man, determined to do something, anything, to protect his brother. The man's response was to smirk and pull the trigger on the gun held to his brother's head enough for the hammer to click. He froze, and he was not the only one to do so. Honda did, too, not wanting to risk the child's life.

"Inside. Now." They did not have a choice. They retreated into the cave and waited as the brutes sealed the entrance on them with a huge, heavy stone, trapping them inside.

"I'm going to come and get you," Kaiba promised his terrified little brother, who gave him a watery, hopeful smile, which soon vanished from sight behind the giant rock.

"No, you won't." The voice of the man threatening Mokuba carried to them as the stone started to fall into place in a dip that both teens were very aware would be almost impossible for them to lift it out of by themselves. "You're never going to see him again."

As the stone hit the ground, trapping them in the dark and cutting them off from the outside world, a single gunshot rang out.


	16. Despair

The feral noise that Kaiba loosed milliseconds after the sound of the gunshot startled Honda. The elder brother launched himself at the boulder cutting him off from his sibling, desperately trying to shove it aside. Honda joined him, shocked and silently praying that the thugs on the other side had not done what he thought they had.

It was hopeless. It would not move. Slowly Kaiba sank to his knees, hands balling into fists and slamming into the floor as he stared ahead, face blank, posture broken.

Honda did not know what to do. He disliked the Kaibas, but no one deserved to lose family this way and Mokuba deserved better than to be shot in the head.

Footsteps approaching made him move to cover the devastated CEO, trying to protect him where he had failed to protect Mokuba. From the darkness emerged Bakura, who paused for a moment, taking in the scene before asking Honda, "Is he fit to move?"

There was absolutely no warning before an absolutely furious Kaiba seized Bakura by the collar as he snarled out, "Where were you?!"

Grabbing her had been a mistake. Bakura's eyes flashed in time with her Millennium Ring and the teenager went flying, crashing into the wall opposite hard enough that Honda was almost certain he heard something crack. Kaiba fell to the floor with a pained grunt as Bakura, magic circling, hissed out, "Do NOT touch me again or I will end you, Seto Kaiba."

Honda could not help but wonder if Bakura was aware that in her anger, she had slipped into her host's birth language of English and somehow sounded even more terrifying than usual because of it. Kaiba pushed himself to sit up, trembling slightly, though Honda could not tell if it was because of anger, pain, or shock as he stared coldly at the Item Spirit standing opposite him.

"I thought you protected those who owe you money." His tone was icier than Honda had ever heard it as he stumbled to his feet, pressing one hand against the wall to support himself.

"I can't collect if I'm dead, asshole." Bakura's tone was just as dangerous. "There were six men with guns out there. I have already been shot once today for that debt: I'm not endangering myself again when there's a smarter way to get my payday. Now are you going to act intelligently or should I Challenge you and head out by myself? Possibly with Honda. Haven't decided yet."

Honda opened his mouth to speak, then paused as he looked at Kaiba properly, noting that his whole body language was different, less broken, and his eyes were brighter, like the pain from the impact had knocked him back to some level of rationality.

"Mokuba isn't dead." His tone was calm and very level, like he was suppressing his emotions in order to try and think straight. "Hurt probably, but not dead. It would make no sense to kill him. Pegasus needs a living Kaiba to control the company. I made sure of that."

"And if he is, I'll aid you in destroying Pegasus," Bakura agreed, acting far too calm as she looked over to Honda. "You in?"

The teen paused to consider that. He was not a killer, unlike these two, but he also was not against retribution. Pegasus had kidnapped and possibly killed Mokuba, ripped Dr. Mutou's soul out of his body and set an unjustified Penalty on Yugi and Oneesan. At this point Pegasus seriously deserved everything that he got.

When he nodded, Bakura smirked, clearly pleased and bearing a little more respect for him because of it, and turned to Kaiba. "I can guide you out of here and I won't even charge for it."

"Why?" Honda could not help but ask her, well aware that Bakura did not do anything for free. She never had. There had always been a reason for her actions.

"Because I won't get in the way of someone who's fighting for family," the Thief Queen stated, staring at him like she was surprised he had not noticed. "That's why I returned Jonouchi's Star Chips and have been helping the Runt."

"Last night was helping?" His tone was more incredulous than he meant it to be.

"Yes, but I'm not explaining now. Are we moving or not?" she demanded, cutting off any further questioning.

"Get us out of here and, if Pegasus has had Mokuba killed, I will make him pay you before I rip him apart." Kaiba's tone was flat, but his eyes were determined. "If he hasn't, I'm getting Mokuba back and my brother can pay you himself."

Bakura momentarily looked startled, then pleased as she started down the tunnel, raising her Millennium Ring and following the glowing points into the labyrinth tunnels. "Come on. I think this is going to be the start of a wonderful working relationship."

* * *

It was cold and dark and Yugi was scared as she looked around, able to see motion on the edges of her vision. Creeping, crawling creatures that did not seem to be able to hold a form as they stalked her.

"A...Anesan?" she called as she kept walking, not sure where she was. "Anesan!"

There was no reply, but she had hoped her older sister was within hearing range.

She was so tired it was insane. She just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep, but she could not. She was far too aware that that if she stopped, if she gave up, the creatures would catch up to her. She had to keep fighting. As long as she pushed herself, as long as she kept going, she would be okay, no matter how hard it got. Just like in the Shadow Game against the Eliminator.

"Yugi..."

Her head snapped up as she heard her name called. It sounded like her grandfather's voice. She broke into a run, darting in the direction it had come from.

"Yugi..."

The second call was louder. Yugi's heart raced as she darted towards the source, sliding to a halt in front of a monolith that appeared out of the pitch black of her surroundings and loomed at least two feet over her. At the very top of it rested a card with a very familiar face on it. Her eyes widened as she beheld the sight. "Ojiisan..."

The creatures that had been stalking her seemed to be unable to approach the great pillar, circling around it in a wide loop, snapping and snarling as she walked forward and put a hand on it. The second she touched the ice-cold stone it unleashed a pulse of energy that pushed her away, sending her skidding backwards.

"I'm safe, Yugi... but you need to be careful... With every soul Crawford seals away, his strength grows. He adds their strength to his own..." Ojiisan sounded exhausted. Yugi's hands balled into fists as anger coursed through her. Pegasus was using the strength of her own grandfather's soul against her, draining him to grow his own strength. "He'll just keep getting stronger and stronger, unless he's stopped."

"I'm going to free you, I promise," Yugi swore.

"Focus on staying safe," her grandfather scolded her. "If he gets your Millennium Puzzle he could accidentally cause Armageddon. You can't let him win..."

"Wh...what?" Yugi stammered, eyes wide at Ojiisan's declaration. "What do you mean?!"

Before her grandfather could answer, a surge of magic flooded the area, ice-cold purple and black flames sweeping past her and swirling around the pillar her grandfather's soul card was on, cutting Yugi off from him. She tried to dart forward, worried the fire would burn up her grandfather's card, only to find the Shadows that had been held back were free to assault her, and the creatures had wrapped their claws around her ankles.

She cried out and struggled, trying to pull herself free of their grip, tripping as they pulled her down, causing her to fall backwards and land heavily on her rear. The flames before her spun upwards as the creatures wrapped their claws around her wrists, preventing her from moving and interfering in what was happening.

She tried to protect the card, taking a hold of some of the powers of her Puzzle and trying to use it to create a shield to stop the flames, only for the creatures holding her to suddenly lash out, striking her across the left cheek with their claws, drawing blood and breaking her concentration.

The magic rebounded painfully as she lost control of it. She cried out as it forced her awake, the same pain ghosting along her nerves and streaking across her cheek as she curled into a ball on her bed in Pegasus's castle, biting her tongue to keep from making a noise and worrying her friends.

She could not hide it from her Anesan, however, who started awake at the sensation of pain, coming fully awake in a heartbeat and drawing the excess magic off, allowing Yugi to relax.

_'What happened? Are you okay?'_ Oneesan fussed at her. Yugi gasped briefly as her older sister's senses fused with hers, allowing the Spirit of the Puzzle to do a rapid check.

_'I... I think I spoke with Ojiisan...'_ Yugi stammered back as she felt her older sister relax, confused, only for the Pharaoh to tense up again.

_'Can I see?'_ The question was cautious, not wanting to trespass into her mind without permission, but determined to see whether it had been a dream or a vision.

Yugi fully opened her mind to her sister. She had nothing to hide from her, and she was just as confused and concerned as Anesan was. She bit her lip as the Puzzle spirit replayed the memory of what she had just seen, rather sure it was not a dream just from the fact she could clearly remember everything that had happened.

The moment Anesan saw the claws that had raked across her cheek, she dragged her little sister into her soul room and checked her over properly, making her sit on the bed as she examined her.

"When we get home I'm teaching you how to use our magic properly," the Pharaoh informed her firmly, "because you're getting more powerful the longer you have access to it and I don't want you hurting yourself."

"Sorry..." Yugi sighed as Oneesan sat next to her and examined her cheek, frowning slightly.

"Not your fault. Magic can be learned through adversity, and you've been in several magical fights since solving the Puzzle. I should have seen this coming." Her older sister shook her head. "But if you're strong enough to start having visions and mental enough to try to use our magic without any practise, then you're ready to start training, and I'm about the only teacher you've got."

"You couldn't have known. I've never been good with the Shadows." Yugi tried to be reassuring as Anesan put her hand on her left cheek. It prickled slightly before the pain eased up. "Thank you."

"That should be better." The Spirit of the Puzzle pulled back and leant against the wall, closing her eyes and thinking. "I'm pretty sure that was a vision. If memory serves, and it doesn't normally, the differences are that you won't have perfect recall on dreams, you can't call on your magic in a dream, it still affects you when you're awake, and you won't dream of things you have no knowledge of because dreams draw from your own mind. That and you can't feel pain in a dream."

Yugi nodded her understanding, then paused. "Do you know what Ojiisan meant?

"I don't, but we'll find out, together, and we won't let it happen," she reassured her little sister. "Are you feeling up to getting up?"

"I probably should. We need to work on our deck and decide what our plan is for Pegasus." Yugi stretched and got up, smiling at her older sister. "I'm okay, I promise."

"Come on, then. The others are probably worried about us." Anesan offered her a hand up.

"That's not new." Yugi took it, smiling at her sister sheepishly as she headed for the door. The body felt refreshed as she took control. She stretched happily, feeling better than she had all morning. She glanced out of the window, checking the sun as she went, only to grimace slightly when she realised the sun was almost ready to set.

_'Think Kaiba's in the castle yet?'_ she wondered at the Pharaoh as she headed for the main room.

_'If he isn't, he had better hurry up,'_ the Spirit of the Puzzle grumbled. _'I want to duel him again.'_

Yugi giggled at that. _'You really enjoy duelling him, don't you?'_

_'I like a challenge, that's all.'_ Anesan's tone was slightly defensive as Yugi reached for the door handle, making her pause.

_'I know, and our friends are great, but... I've enjoyed the challenge, too. We'll have to compete more often once this is all over,'_ Yugi admitted, able to sense her older sister relax. Reassured by the feeling, she stepped into the main room to find Anzu was sat in a chair by the windowsill, next to the half-open window, watching the outside world while Jou was snoring on the sofa.

"No Honda?" Yugi's curious and quiet question made Anzu nearly fall off her perch.

"Not yet, but I can see the door from here, so we can see them coming." Anzu shook her head. Yugi nodded as Anzu shifted so Yugi could sit on the table next to her and watch, too. "How're you feeling now?"

"Better," Yugi answered as she got settled, pulling her side deck out of her bag before settling so she could work on her deck while she waited. "Sorry if I worried you."

Anzu shrugged. She had been worried, but Yugi did seem better than she had this morning, and that had to be enough, at least for now. She turned back towards the window as Yugi started sorting through her cards. "Think they'll be here? There's only a couple of hours left..."

"I'm certain of it."

* * *

Kaiba was not sure he trusted Bakura when she said she could use the Millennium Ring like a dowsing rod. Supposedly the points on it would move in the direction they needed to go, but he only had her word for it. However, he had to admit, if only to himself, that without her guidance he would have been lost in the labyrinth.

He could not believe what had happened. He had failed his brother and now he did not truly know if the boy was dead or alive. He wanted to believe that Mokuba was alive. He NEEDED that hope, because the moment it disappeared he honestly did not think he would be able to continue.

Everything he had ever done, at least until the last year or two before Death-T, had been for Mokuba. To make his life better. To give him the life that he deserved.

Mokuba was his guiding light. If he was gone, if he had lost that light, it would destroy him.

He almost wished that Oneesan had not messed with his head. Before her Penalty game he would have been able to cope with this uncertainty. It would not have mattered as much to him.

However, he could not bring himself to entirely wish it because if Mokuba was gone, if he really was never going to see the most important person in his world again, then the real emotions he had felt and shared with his brother were going to mean more to him than anything else. These last few hours since his arrival on Duellist Kingdom were going to be just as important to him as their childhood memories.

"Kaiba... I'm sorry." Honda's voice broke his train of thoughts, the guilt in the tone causing him to glance over. The other teen, who had failed as a bodyguard at the critical moment, was staring at the back of Bakura's head, unable to look at him.

"Don't be sorry, be useful." His tone stayed level, which he was pretty proud of, considering the emotions flooding his mind. When Honda actually glanced over at Kaiba, he continued, "I need everything you and your gang of misfits know about Crawford's cheating."

"I'm not sure how the hell he's managing it," Honda grumbled. "He's using his Millennium Eye to read his opponent's minds. That should be classed as cheating, but it's not."

"That would be because he starts the Shadow Game, so he makes the rules." Bakura's tone was far too amused. "It's no different from what I was up to during that Monster World game. My Game, my world, my rules. The good thing for his opponents is that Shadow Games have to be fair. There is always a way to win, you just have to find it. Of course, some people just aren't smart enough for that."

Honda grimaced at that, remembering just how close they had come to dying during that Shadow Game, but Kaiba's expression did not shift as he asked, "What are the Millennium Items? Where did they come from?"

Bakura glanced back over her shoulder, considering him for a few moments before shaking her head and continuing. "I'm not giving out that information freely, and you can't afford the cost right now."

"If it's a matter of money..."

The short bark of laughter Bakura unleashed echoed off the walls. "Money is not the issue. If I wanted money for this information, I could name any figure to anyone interested and I'd get it. No, the true cost of the knowledge you seek is that it warps minds and changes perspectives, and right now, you're not stable enough for me to let you pay that cost."

"You have no right..." Kaiba's tone turned sharp but Bakura cut him off.

"I am the ONLY one with the right." Her tone was as harsh as it had been when she had been snarling at Oneesan earlier. "Only I know the true story of the birth of the Millennium Items. Oneesan did once, but when she sealed me, she sealed her knowledge away, so only I get to decide who knows and who doesn't, and I am telling you, now is not the time for this story."

Like a light bulb suddenly turning on, Honda put two and two together. Bakura was getting far too irritated, far too quickly for this not to be a painfully personal subject for her. It was not hard to work out that it was linked, somehow, to the crimes that Oneesan's family had committed. Something about the origin of the Millennium Items was the reason the Spirit of the Ring had been seeking justice back in Egypt. If he put that together with her apparent dislike of messing with people who were fighting for their family, he started to get a picture that he did not entirely like.

He did not say anything now, however. Bakura had made it clear that she was not going into details, and he needed her to get out of here. That and he did not fancy his chances if she decided he knew too much and decided to get rid of him before he could speak with Oneesan. Once this was all over and he had some back up, he would try to ask the Thief Queen, but she was right, now was not the time.

"What can you tell me?" the elder Kaiba demanded, anger bubbling away under the surface, but his mind logically reminding him that she may have a point. If Mokuba was Pegasus's prisoner, he could not reach the castle with his head any more messed up than it already was. "If you can't tell me what they are?"

"Crawford has the Millennium Eye," Bakura huffed, pausing at a junction to watch the points on her item carefully. "It's unblockable for anyone whose magic isn't older than the Millennium Items, but you can buy some time by throwing bad memories at the probe or annoying songs."

"So you couldn't block it if you wanted to?" Honda asked her, then winced at the glare she gave him.

"I wouldn't have to. I'm stronger than him and I'm not stupid enough to allow him to drag me into one of HIS Shadow Games. When I Challenge him, it'll be on my terms," she snapped at him.

"If I don't kill him first," Kaiba stated coldly, distracting her. She paused then nodded.

"If," she agreed, calming a little. "But the answer is no. The Millennium Items will not protect their wielders from other items as far as I'm aware. I believe the Necklace can't see other item bearers, but all its other powers work on them so..." She shrugged as she started moving again, emerging out into an underground duelling arena.

Kaiba scowled as he beheld it. It was an arena rather than a Duel Box, with podiums for Duelists to stand on in each corner, suggesting that it was for multiduels. He had not made arenas. They were large and they were expensive. The Duel Boxes were much more efficient. However, he had laid out plans for them, and when he got back to Kaiba Corp someone was going to be fired for leaking blueprints.

He started around it, heading for the doors, only for a couple of really offensive, movie-stereotype martial arts noises to come from nowhere, and two men in Chinese tang jackets, one in orange, one in green, flipped into place in front of the doors. He glowered at them and they smirked back.

"Move aside. I have ten Star Chips," he informed them, holding up his duelling glove.

"He seems under the impression that we care," the green man chuckled.

"To get past they must duel as a pair." The orange man was just as amused as he agreed with his team mate in rhyme.

Honda hissed. He was not a Duellist. He was fully aware of that. Give him something to hit and he was fine. Give him a deck and he was awful. He glanced at Bakura, wondering if, considering the Millennium Items could do things like let someone summon Duel Monsters, she could duel.

Her face was blank, however, and nothing in her body language told him what she was thinking or feeling as she stepped up next to Kaiba. "You don't require any more Star Chips, do you?"

"No." Kaiba shook his head, trying to work out the odds of taking both of them single-handedly. "I have the ten that should let me into the castle."

"Then I suggest you step aside. The Shadows are hungry and I intend to feed them," the Thief Queen informed him flatly. Kaiba gave her a sharp look, trying to work out if she was actually trying to order him about or not. Then he snorted and moved aside. He had no interest in risking his Star Chips against the pair. If she wanted to Challenge them, then she could go ahead. If they lost or cheated, they would deserve what they got.

"She thinks she can fight us alone?" The one in orange sounded incredulous.

"We will have to trounce this unknown." The one in green snorted, overconfident as Bakura stepped forwards.

Honda moved backwards, not wanting to get caught in the magic as Bakura's Millennium Ring started glowing. He caught glimpses of the Shadows crawling along the floor, wrapping around the two men as Bakura asked, "So who am I feeding to the Shadows this afternoon? What names will be on your tombstones?"

"I am Mei, the older of the pair." The man dressed in orange postured.

"And I am Kyu; duel us if you dare," the green-dressed one added, posing back to back with the other.

"And we are the Meikyu Brothers," the two brothers informed her in perfect synchronicity.

Bakura, Honda was amused to see, looked decidedly unimpressed as she stared at them. "Labyrinth Brothers, very clever. Let me guess, your duelling field is a labyrinth to go with your maze entrance? Exactly how many duellists have you snared?"

Kaiba's mood was lifted a tiny little bit by the awkward look on the brothers' faces as she guessed, correctly, that they had not had any Challengers, but then they scowled at her.

"That's not for you to know," Mei snapped at her.

"Now it's time to start the show," Kyu bit out.

"No," Bakura snorted, "not the show you're thinking of. I don't duel unless I have no other choice. It's not my game."

"You're just afraid you have no skill," Mei taunted, his face turning smug. Honda took another step back as the Shadows deepened at her irritation.

"Your duelling skills must smell like..." Kyu did not get to finish before the Shadows swarmed him and his brother. Not that Honda could properly see what was going on. The Meikyu Brothers suddenly looked lost and confused, and then angry as they turned on Bakura, their voices muffled, like there was an invisible wall of something between Honda and the trio.

Kaiba's gaze, however, had narrowed, and he was following something with his eyes that Honda could not see, causing him to wonder if he was more sensitive to the Shadows because he had been in multiple Shadow Games and had been under two penalties. Honda's own ability to see traces of it had come from the Game with Bakura after all. It was entirely viable.

Then Honda realised something. This was how a Shadow Game looked from the outside. This was how Oneesan managed to cover up her Shadow Games. She did not leave physical traces behind because it was all in their heads. Shadow Games were literally mind games and illusions that felt as real as anything in the physical world. Those who were sensitive to the magic or who were in the middle of the game could see them. Otherwise, there was nothing there.

He could not see what they were playing, but whatever she was up to, it was not long before Mei snapped out something and it looked like he flipped the board. Honda did not have to be able to see what he had just overturned to know what was coming next. Bakura's eyes lit up, the Millennium Ring glowed, the Shadows deepened, and suddenly the slightly taller of the two brothers was on the ground, staring blankly into space. Kyu followed up on his brother's mistake by grabbing Bakura's collar and shaking her, probably demanding that she fix whatever Penalty his brother had earned, only to earn the same treatment himself.

"Men. Absolutely no respect for personal space." She huffed as whatever bubble she had erected vanished and she dusted herself off, nudging one of the Meikyu brothers out of her way with her foot and getting no response from the man when she did. Honda grimaced but could not say anything when she had been assaulted multiple times today. "That feels better, though."

Honda could not help but wonder what, exactly, she had done to the pair. Was she feeling better because she had vented her anger or had she done something to them that had increased her strength? If it was the latter, then what, and what did that mean for Yugi if she and Bakura fought?

"Are you quite done?" Kaiba asked, irritated at the time loss the Meikyu Brothers had caused and suddenly very aware she had let him off easily for grabbing her earlier, suggesting she had been honest in her earlier comment about not interfering with those fighting for family.

"Yes, yes," Bakura smirked, "ready when you are."

She raised her Ring and focused on getting where she wanted to go. The souls of the labyrinth brothers had been tasty treats for the darkness, which had given her a nice little power boost. Not that she needed it. She was older than Pegasus and had thousands of years' more experience and power built up. Still, her Landlord had not actually slept last night with all the late night deal making, so getting an energy boost to keep her going until she could find a safe place to curl up felt wonderful.

_'Voice?'_ Ba-Khu-Ra tried not to startle at the sound of her Landlord's 'voice', having expected the girl to not want to talk to her, considering the bullet hole in her shoulder. _'Are you okay?'_

The Thief Queen controlled her surprise carefully. She knew her host did not like her. She had never pretended otherwise, so this sudden concern was confusing. _'I've been worse, Landlord.'_

_'I bet...'_ The girl's tone was subdued. _'I have questions about what you said to Oneesan, if you're willing to answer them?'_

There it was. The reason for the sudden concern. She had known that it could not have been genuine. _'It depends on what they are. I told no lies earlier when I snarled at your friends.'_

_'I didn't think you did.'_ The surprise was back at the trust she could sense as she paused outside the two doors at the back of the room and the Ring tried to tell her both would take her to the exit. _'I'm asking if you're okay? It can't have been easy to relive that.'_

_'Why do you care?'_ Her tone was harsh as she realised that there were almost invisible buttons next to the doors, and when she pressed one, the Ring suddenly dropped the door next to it as an option. Pressing it again reopened the path, and she could not help but be impressed by the tricks the Eliminators had at their disposals.

_'Because while I don't like you and I never will, you're in my head and you're never going to leave unless you want to, so things that trouble you, trouble me. I promise I will not share anything you tell me with Yugi or the Pharaoh unless you say I can.'_ That was entirely fair, even if it hurt. She supposed she could not blame the girl. Her father had died after touching the Millennium Ring, and the very first thing she had done in her Landlord's body had been kill several children, along with Shin Shadi, the most recent reincarnation attempt of High Priest Shada. She could not get mad at the girl for hating her.

_'State your questions. If I don't like them, I'm going to ignore them.'_ The Thief Queen considered that entirely fair, and she could feel that her host did, too, as she led the boys through the door.

_'Did Oneesan really have a boyfriend?'_ She nearly stumbled at the first question in her surprise that her landlord had started with that of all things. When the teenager felt her incredulous emotions, she clarified, _'I'm starting small and we'll work up to the bigger ones.'_

That entirely made sense and was a better plan than just diving into the big questions that would have made her just shut down the conversation. _'Yes... no... it was complicated. There were very few in Egypt who knew the Pharaoh was female. Her right hand man, Mahad, the man who held the Ring before us, was one of them. The Pharaoh was considering Mahad as father for her heirs once she could safely come out as a woman because he had been the protector and best friend of her and her brother since they were children. Mahad was 'crushing' on her so hard, that he was much more tactile with her than anyone should have been. Considering that she could have had him killed for touching her if she really hadn't wanted him to, I'm of the opinion they were dating behind closed doors. Or at least the Pharaoh had more feelings for him than she ever admitted.'_

Bakura could feel her processing that information. She waited until her landlord was ready to ask another as she glanced over her shoulder, noting with pleasure that Honda and Kaiba had not bothered to stop to inspect the Meikyu Brothers and had followed her.

_'What did Mahad say when he came after you?'_ That was an entirely reasonable question, yet Bakura found herself getting irritated.

_'He told me he was arresting me for attempting to assassinate the Pharaoh and I would be going back to Khemet for questioning, like it or not.'_ Bakura huffed out as daylight at the end of the tunnel finally came into sight. _'And obviously I had no intention of returning for execution.'_

_'But he didn't say it was on Pharaoh's orders?'_ Her landlord pushed.

_'It was Pharaoh's men, on Pharaoh's behalf, which means it was Pharaoh's fault. Now shut up. I'm done with this conversation.'_ She felt the girl retreat quickly at the bite in her tone. She did not regret it. Mahad had made it very clear that he was bringing her back one way or another, and while he had been acting more scatterbrained than normal, he had been a dangerous adversary. Still was, in fact, just in a different form. She was certain that the only possible way that he would have acted to try to kill her without Pharaoh's order was if his mind had been messed with, and he had always been clear that his mind was unbendable.

Not that anyone was completely unbendable. She had learned that over the last few thousand years, but this was Mahad. He had been a thorn in her side for most of her false friendship with the Pharaoh, even back when she and the 'Prince' had first met. He had never been anything less than a stubborn sod who was unbreakably loyal to the Pharaoh. It was why he had been in the small clique of people who had been in the know about her highness. The fact he and Bakura had butted heads many times was why she was certain he had been sent over the others.

She could feel her landlord hovering on the edge of her senses, paying attention to her train of thoughts, and sent an irritated feeling to the girl. _'Do NOT eaves-drop on my thoughts, Landlord.'_

_'I'm not trying to, I promise,'_ Amane swore as Bakura paused at the exit to the outside world, letting her eyes adjust to the light, _'but you're so angry it's hard to ignore it.'_

Bakura huffed at that, but she could not argue with it. She often found it hard to ignore her Landlord's thoughts and feelings when the girl was highly emotionally charged. _'Fine, but the not talking to the Pharaoh thing still stands.'_

_'I won't. This isn't my information to give... but if I can ask one last thing before you tell me to shut up?_ ' Amane dared to ask.

_'You get one last question, and then you shut up until I've gotten some sleep. Deal?'_ the Thief Queen was willing to offer.

_'Deal,'_ her landlord agreed as the body stepped out into the late afternoon sun, followed by Honda and Kaiba, the former of whom cussed at how late it had gotten. _'And my one question is, was there anyone else bar Mahad in that palace that disliked you and could have set you up to be arrested?'_

_'It would be easier to tell you who I thought liked me, but of those that I believed disliked me at the time I was betrayed, the ones who would have had the ability to set me up successfully would be the Pharaoh's Uncle, High Priest Shada, and Mahad. However Akhenaden, the Uncle, was in disgrace, and Shada and Mahad were loyal to her highness. There's no way Akhenaden should have had access to the men he needed to set me up effectively and the other two would never endanger their Pharaoh's life. Plus Mahad told me he was acting in the Pharaoh's name.'_

_'Which means he was claiming her authority to bring you in...'_ She could hear her landlord thinking, but she did keep her deal and shut up, keeping her thoughts to herself as they hurried towards the castle gates.

Kaiba reached the top just before the first rays of sunset hit the door. Honda and Bakura were just behind him as a smug jerk in a suit planted himself between Kaiba and the doorway, preventing him from reaching it. "Too late, Kaiba."

The teenager's hands balled into fists as he recognised the voice as belonging to the man who had threatened Honda at the cave. "Where's my brother?"

"Why does it matter? You're too late. You're not getting into the castle." The thug smirked at the way Kaiba went very still. "You should have gotten through the door before sunset."

Honda slammed the jerk up against the gateposts, moving him out of the teenager's way and disarming him before he could reach for his gun, tossing the weapon aside as the young CEO took the Star Chips out of his glove and inserted them into the lock. "Where's Mokuba, asshole?"

The thug very pointedly smirked and shook his head, not saying a word.

"Leave him," Seto snapped out as the door swung open. "He's not going to talk. I'm going straight to the source."

Honda let the prat go and kicked the gun away so it bounced down the stairs, far out of the guy's reach. Bakura slipped into the castle ahead of them, paused just long enough to press the folder labelled '4' into Kaiba's hands, and then seemed to vanish into the shadows cast by the door frame. Neither teen bothered to wonder where she was going. Neither cared enough right now. If Bakura wanted to get herself into trouble, then that was up to her. Honda just wanted to find out where his friends were and fill them in before crashing. There was nothing more he could do right now.

Kaiba flipped through the folder, scowling at the room assignments and timetable within, noting that the folder did not actually tell him where anything was. Probably to prevent him going off to try to find his brother himself.

That was fine. With his entrance into the castle, all the weight Pegasus had dropped on him had lifted, meaning the Penalty was finished, and he knew his way to the main office.

Pegasus would tell him what he had done with Mokuba, and if he refused, he was going to rip the man limb from limb.

He was kind of looking forward to it.

 


	17. Combinations

Stalking through the castle had not gotten any harder since Bakura had been here last night, but she found that she did not really care. Almost all of the pieces of her puzzle were in one place.

Almost.

She found herself more angry about what had happened in the cave system than she had thought she would be. It was not even just about the money. Yes, the money was a factor, she could not deny it, but the act of ripping the boy away from his brother in such a manner was nothing less than an act of unnecessary cruelty. Under other circumstances she would have applauded the viciousness of it. Especially if it had been the Runt torn away from the Pharaoh in such a way. She would have been pissed she had not had the chance to do so first, but she would have been able to enjoy the suffering of the older sibling. It would have been justice.

However, Mokuba had impressed her with his bravery by standing up to her, despite the warnings, and she recognised the emotions flooding through Kaiba far too well. They were no different than those that had hit her three thousand years ago when she had lost everything.

The bottom had dropped out of Kaiba's world, but he was lucky in a way. He still had hope to cling to. When her world had ended she had been made to claw her way out of despair by herself, and when she had finally had the chance to start believing in the future again in her grasp, it had been ripped away from her.

She would not ruin Pegasus's fun; a little anger and despair would be good for Kaiba and make him understand the desperation of the other competitors a little better, but she wanted to know if the child was alive. She needed to know if the teen's world really was gone for good or whether the hope he was holding on to was true.

It was not hard to sense the location of the castle's Lord. He had grown in strength since she had last been here, and his power had seeped throughout the empty halls, leaving a trail she could easily follow. He was, quite sensibly, staying away from his office, probably to avoid the oncoming storm that was Kaiba.

Instead she tracked him to his tower. She had been here once before, and security was no higher than the last time as she watched for a gap in the guards pacing the battlements. She took advantage of them turning the corner to dart in through the door and start up the steps. She emerged into Pegasus's study to find the man at his desk, working on a painting of an angel.

She cleared her throat, startling the man, who stood quickly, turning to face her with a false smile on his face. "Ah, Bakura-girl, it's good to see you. Have fun harassing my men?"

"As much fun as you had messing with my deals." Her tone was cold and her look sour. "I'm about ready the Challenge you for that."

"Our agreement is untouched." Pegasus did not show many outward signs of confusion, but Bakura could tell from his tone that he was a little worried. He had noticed that she was speaking in English, a clear indicator that she wanted to make her point very clear. "So I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"I made a bargain with Mokuba Kaiba." She scowled at the CEO of Industrial Illusions, noting that his expression closed down at that information. "The boy owed me a great deal of money, so either you provide me with Proof of Life, this instant, or I'm going to extract every last penny from your hide."

The CEO paused to consider that, watching her for a few seconds before calmly asking, "How much?"

"A hundred thousand. British." Her tone was just as level and calm, watching him for any tells as to the state of the child.

He nodded before turning back towards the desk. She watched as he opened up a drawer, checked through a bunch of narrow books, before pulling out one for what she recognised was an English bank and wrote in it. She had to hide her concern and surprise when he ripped off a piece of paper and offered it to her.

It was a check. For one hundred thousand British pounds.

Her eyes narrowed as she took it from him, examining it for traces of it being a forgery.

"Oh, it's perfectly legitimate, Bakura-girl, and I won't be cancelling it," Crawford informed her with a slight smirk as she stared at him, confused. She scowled as she felt him skim her mind.

"Anything interesting, Crawford?" she asked sharply.

"It intrigues me that you're trying to work out if my men have actually killed young Mokuba, or whether I'm just that committed to antagonising Kaiba-boy." He chuckled, seeming far too amused by the whole situation. "I would have thought, since that pays his debt to you, you no longer have to worry about him."

"I'm just curious about your motives," Bakura tried, Ring glowing just enough to make him back off, not wanting to be Challenged by her today when there was a possibility he would be against Yugi tomorrow. "I've found bait is more useful alive."

"Normally," Pegasus allowed, "but Kaiba-boy is following my plan to the letter, so I'm afraid I can't confirm or deny the status of young Mokuba. Mostly because, Thief Queen Ba-Khu-Ra, I don't trust you not to sell that information for the best possible price."

She barely managed to keep her feelings off of her face as she internally startled at the title. She had been very careful to keep throwing modern memories at him so he did not find out too much about her. There was only one way he could know who she truly was.

"You've been in the Pharaoh's head." Her tone gave nothing away as she stared at him coldly.

"I have; you two have a fascinating past." He smirked, able to feel a smug, vicious satisfaction at her brief disgruntled look, something deep within his mind wanting to twist the knife even further. "It's such a shame when friendships fall apart."

"You know nothing of what happened, Pegasus J. Crawford," Bakura hissed out, glaring at him, not bothering to hide her anger when she could feel him skimming her mind. "Stay out of my personal life or you'll regret it."

"I severely doubt you could make me regret it right now, little thief. You're overtired." Pegasus's amusement at her current state made her tense up. "If I Challenged you right now, I would probably win."

"Don't underestimate me." She felt him back off as she let him feel her full power, bolstered by three thousand years of soul stealing and magical practise. "In comparison to me, you're just the villain of the week. I could end you in a heartbeat if I wanted to, but right now you have something I need so you get to live."

Crawford stared at her, suddenly realising how over his head he was. He had not anticipated running into two ancient spirits during his attempts to gather the Millennium Items, and he was beginning to see that there was so much more going on than what Shadi had told him. He supposed, considering some of the things that had happened during his work on Duel Monsters, he should not entirely be surprised.

"Don't forget our deal, Bakura-girl," he reminded her. "You promised to assist me in getting the duelists I need into the castle and agreed to hold off Challenging me as long as you could have the Millennium Items when I was done with them and left Yugi-girl alive."

"I've fulfilled half my deal," the Thief Queen pointed out as she pocketed the check and prepared to leave, moving to a patch of shadows on the floor, "and I'm keeping to the second half, but stay the hell out of my head or you won't like what happens."

With that she disappeared into the darkness, leaving him staring at the empty space she had vacated.

* * *

Yugi sat back against the wall as she went through her deck one last time.

She did not know who she was facing in the semi-finals, so she could not prep her deck properly, but it had been therapeutic to make some adjustments to the background soundtrack of Jou's snoring. It was something so normal that it helped lift the nervousness that was beginning to settle.

Each of her potential opponents was a good Duelist and while, yes, she had already defeated each of them once, or more, that mattered little once the duel began.

"That's my giant doughnut." Yugi glanced over to the sofa, amused by the mumble from Jou as he rolled over, burying himself deeper into the soft furniture. She had guessed that he had not slept well last night and she was happy that he was catching up on his sleep now. With Anzu in the chair by the window, watching night fall outside, it meant she was sat on the much more uncomfortable floor, but she did not mind.

More than once, at home, she had sprawled over the floor, working through her deck while Jou had snored on the couch and Ojiisan had bustled around the kitchen or started closing down the shop for the day. Being able to do so here was helping her relax.

The sounds of the door opening without a knock caused Oneesan to take over and brought Jou out of his slumber. The teen was on his feet in a heartbeat, wheeling around to glare at the door in a reaction time born from his time running with gangs and dealing with his deadbeat father.

When Honda slipped through the door and closed it behind him, he relaxed and flopped back onto the sofa.

"Hey, dude, glad you made..." He paused as he properly took in the look on Honda's face.

"What's wrong?" Anzu asked, beating Jou to it as Yugi stood up, able to sense her older sister on the edge, ready to take over if necessary.

"Kaiba's in the castle." Honda shrugged, throwing off his jacket and coming to sit next to Jou, looking knackered and stressed.

Yugi bit her lip, certain that was not what was bothering him. "Are the Kaibas in their own room?"

The wince at the question made Yugi's eyes widen. Oneesan took over to ask, "Mokuba is with Kaiba, isn't he?"

"No... I don't know where he is," Honda admitted, his tone heavy. "Last I saw him, some goons had him at gun point."

"Crap." Jou breathed as Anzu went pale.

Oneesan grimaced. With Mokuba in Pegasus's hands once again, Kaiba would be much more dangerous.

"He's safe, though? I mean, Pegasus needs him alive to control Kaiba, right?" Anzu's voice shook slightly, worried about the boy.

Honda's hesitation and downward gaze told them enough. Anzu slumped back in her chair and Jou punched the arm of the sofa.

Oneesan scowled, able to sense her little sister's shock and dismay as her hands balled into fists. "Did you see it happen?"

Honda looked up at her, shaking his head rapidly when he realised he could see the Shadows crawling over her frame, woken by her anger at Pegasus. "No, they made sure of that, but... we heard the gunshot."

"So he could be alive..." The darkness faded away, letting Honda relax a little. "They could be playing mind games with Kaiba. Trying to convince him that he's failed his brother so it throws him off."

The Spirit of the Puzzle felt Imoto-chan relax at that as her friends paused to consider her words. _'You're probably right. I just hope Kaiba sees what their plan is.'_

Oneesan did too. It was Kaiba, so she was certain that he would have been a vicious opponent with just his company on the line, but if he was unaware whether his brother was alive or dead, then she could not trust what he would do to find out or ensure the boy's safety.

Jou looked thoughtful. "Man, he's a big enough jerk as it is, but I guess we're not the only ones with loved ones on the line... So how're we handling this? Because we can't let him win."

And that was the crux of the matter. There could only be one winner.

She and Jou had it worked out. If she won, she would give Jou the prize money and win Ojiisan's soul back. If Jou won, he would keep the money and win the soul back for her. Not that she thought she would lose, but it was good to have a plan.

Mai was in it for the money, so Oneesan did not really feel bad knocking her out of the competition.

But Kaiba... Kaiba was the issue.

There was no way that he would agree to work with them. For all that her Penalty would have allowed him to bring himself back from the psychosis that had consumed him because of his adoptive father's training, he was still Kaiba at heart, and from what she had seen of him last night, he clearly still only really cared about his own goals. He would not care that they had family on the line.

"We'll have to knock him out of the competition. There's no other choice if we want to save Ojiisan and Shizuka," Oneesan admitted.

 _'I know we need to beat Kaiba to win but... can we add Mokuba's return to our victory demands for the title match?'_ Imoto-chan's hopeful tone trickled over the bond as Jou nodded, as uncomfortable with the thought of separating the Kaibas as Oneesan was. _'I know we want to save our family, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't help them too.'_

 _'You're right we can, I just...'_ Oneesan sighed. _'We have to work out how we're going to beat Pegasus before we can think about our winnings.'_

 _'I know you don't want to hear it, but...'_ Yugi trailed off at the unhappiness she could sense from her darker self. _'Anesan. It'll work. You know it will.'_

 _'But if he turns it into a Shadow Game and you overstretch yourself, you could die,'_ Oneesan admitted, her tone wavering slightly as fear trickled over the bond. _'I can't lose you, Imoto-chan, I just can't.'_

 _'I promised Jou I wouldn't risk myself if I didn't think I could survive it. I won't break that oath.'_ Reassurance and sisterly love flowed back. _'But he can't delve deeply into your mind and you can handle the darkness, so you're the perfect shield. I won't be out long if I make a move and then retreat again, so I'll last longer. It's our best chance.'_

The Pharaoh grimaced, but she could not argue her sister's point. It was the safest way to duel with the highest chance of victory. Plus it did not break the 'only one soul' rule because they were the same soul.

"Is Yuge okay?" Jou asked, noticing the look on the Pharaoh's face.

"Yes, we're just discussing options. We're contemplating adding Mokuba's release to our victory demands." Oneesan nodded, her expression not entirely happy.

"She wants to fight, doesn't she?" Jou sighed, startling the spirit of the Puzzle. When she nodded, he huffed, "Typical Yuge. She has a plan at least?"

"Of course." The Pharaoh saw him relax. "Don't worry, she remembers the promise she made you. Have you made a plan yet?"

She had absolutely no idea what the face he pulled in response was supposed to show. She was pretty sure it was meant to be over exaggerated confidence and smugness, but it just looked weird as he crowed, "Oh, I am just so awesome that he won't be able to read my mind!"

"Yeah, if he tries, all he'll get is white noise because there's nothing in there," Honda taunted Jou, who turned to scowl at him. "Best defence, really."

"Hey!" Jou started to protest, only to realise that Anzu was chuckling and even Oneesan had let out an amused snort, which was a really rare occurrence. He caught Honda's gaze and the other teen nodded, confirming Jou's thoughts that Honda had said it specifically to break the mood that had been settling. "Sure, sure, laugh it up, at least there's white noise in my head. Yours is like an echo chamber. Completely empty."

Anzu laughed again and Yugi took over, giggling quietly, well aware of what the boys were trying to do. "No fighting, or I'll eat your desserts. If Pegasus is serving any."

"We'll be good." Jou chuckled, glad that Yugi relaxed enough to tease them. Seeing it helped his confidence levels. She had to be pretty certain of their upcoming success and feeling much better to be well enough to want to taunt them.

"Speaking of food," Anzu spoke up, checking the clock on her phone, "dinner will be served shortly, so we should head down."

Yugi nodded and headed for the door, grabbing the map out of the folder she had been given at the doors. Her friends followed closely behind, not wanting to get lost in the winding passageways. Honda and Jou covered the girls as they made their way along the route Yugi had mapped out, not trusting Pegasus's men to behave themselves.

The path took them through the balcony above the arena they would be fighting in tomorrow. Yugi's eyes widened as she realised the holographic field was much bigger than the Duel Boxes she was used to. Even the ones at Death-T had not been this size, and the massive arena had no seats, meaning that they would be stood at their duelling points.

"Someone fancies himself King of the Castle." Jou's grumble confused Yugi until she spotted the throne on the balcony opposite. It was lower than the one they were on currently, much closer to the arena, and the throne was in the exact middle, allowing Pegasus to 'rule' over both players without seeming biased.

Disappointment stuck Yugi as she realised something. Pegasus would be watching the duels tomorrow. That meant that she could not be in control or she was leaving herself wide open to have her mind read by Crawford. She was out of Duellist Kingdom until the Title Match. The duel she had been looking forward to was out of her reach.

 _'Imoto-chan?'_ Her Anesan asked, able to feel the sudden crash of her emotions.

 _'I can't duel Mai.'_ Yugi could not help her slightly upset tone as they headed out towards the dining hall, _'If I take the lead in front of Pegasus, he'll get everything while I'm distracted by the duel.'_

She could feel her sister tumbling the problem over in her mind, aware Yugi had been looking forward to duelling her friend, but equally aware that her Imoto-chan was correct. She did not have the defences that the Spirit of the Puzzle did.

Before she got a response from the Pharaoh they emerged into the dinning hall, where Amane was already sat and waved at them as they came through the door. "Hey, guys."

"Hi, Bakura." Yugi smiled at her, looking around at the various paintings in the room and freezing when she realised one of them was of Shadi. She could not help but wonder when Pegasus had met the Key bearer. A gentle nudge from behind her had her moving again and she flopped down into the seat next to the Ring bearer as her friends trailed in behind her. "You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Amane sounded confused, though to Yugi's sharp eyes the discomfort was obvious.

"We saw you come in with Honda and Kaiba. Honda told us what happened with..." Yugi trailed off as Kaiba stalked into the room and the temperature seemed to drop several degrees.

Oneesan reached out with her senses and Yugi opened her own to what the spirit was feeling, allowing her to sense the cold, constant Shadows swirling around Kaiba's frame. It was easy to sense the cold fury backing them up. She was suddenly very glad it was not aimed at her. Reassurance flooded their bond as she hesitated to say anything to him. There was nothing she could think to say that did not sound hollow or empty.

Kaiba caught her gaze and then looked away, angry but not entirely at her. He gracefully took his seat, scowling around and daring the others to say anything.

No one did. No one dared. Even when Mai entered the room it did not break the heavy silence that had fallen in the room.

Finally Yugi stood, giving Kaiba a firm look as she said, "Outside. Please."

He paused to consider her, then pushed his chair back as he got to his feet, stalking out of the room ahead of her.

"Yuge?" Jou asked nervously, starting to rise, wondering if he should back her up. When she shook her head and headed for the door, he sat back, trusting her to have it.

Kaiba's scowl as she stepped through the door and shut it behind her would have made her feel small a few months ago, but with the mental support of her older sister and the determination she had been building, she stood tall in the face of it. "What, Mutou?"

She did not flinch at his harsh tone. Instead, she raised her eyes to his, braving the storm that was his anger to say, "Hear me out, and once I'm done, you can walk away if you're not happy with what I had to say."

"You have two minutes." Kaiba was impressed despite himself. The Mutou Yugi his files had information on would never have stood up to him like this. Even the Mutou Yugi he had kidnapped the night before Death-T would not have pulled him aside. The quiet, mousy 'little Yugi' had changed drastically since then, and he found himself interested in what she had to say.

"I don't believe Mokuba's dead," she stated, her tone one of absolute surety. "Pegasus gets too much power from the souls he takes to kill him. I'm pretty damn certain he's going to try to use his soul against you, just like he's using Jii-chan's against me."

"What about it? I'm going to destroy Pegasus once I can work out where the hell he's hiding." Seto demanded, showing none of his surprise at the less than formal address for Yugi's grandfather, which had been the only indicator of how emotional the girl really was underneath the bravado she was showing him and her friends. Jii-chan was the term of a child missing a loved relative, and for it to slip out of Yugi's mouth now showed that either she was stressed to breaking point, or she was so wound up over what had happened with Mokuba that she was slipping out of formal language.

"I'm proposing a truce," Yugi continued, able to sense Anesan's curiosity at what she was up to. "You have Mokuba to get back, I need to save Jii-chan, and Jou's Imoto-chan needs help. Between the three of us, we can take this competition and help everyone."

"Why? Why would you help us? We tried to kill you," Kaiba stated, his tone cold as ice, not trusting Yugi after everything he had done to her.

The girl just shrugged his statement off. "Yes, you did. Jii-chan and my friends, too, but you weren't yourself, and what's in the past can't be changed, so it doesn't matter right now. The ONLY thing that matters until we're safely back in Domino is our loved ones. If we work together, we stand more of a chance against Pegasus than if we stand alone."

"I don't do teamwork, Yugi." Kaiba stared down at her, trying to see if he could get her to back down.

"I'm not asking you to tag team duel with me. I know you don't like me, or Anesan, or even Jou, but you are smart enough to recognise that three chances to save your brother is better than one. What, exactly, do you lose by accepting our help?" The stare did not work. If anything it made Yugi's stance a little straighter, her pose a little more determined.

He paused to consider her question. If he pushed aside the fact that he was cross at her for suggesting he could be knocked out of the finals before he got to fight Pegasus, she had a valid point. Anything could happen between now and the duels tomorrow, and he was half expecting Pegasus to try to have him killed in his sleep. If there was a second or even a third duelist who was looking to retrieve Mokuba from Crawford, then, providing his brother was still alive, there was three times the hope.

Just in case.

"I won't ask for help from the mutt," Kaiba informed her flatly, unable to bring himself to do it when he just knew the boy would never let him live it down.

"You don't have to. I will," Yugi offered, knowing Jou was too proud to ask for Kaiba's help, just as Kaiba was too proud to accept Jonouchi's. "But let me help. Please? Mokuba's my friend. I don't want him to be kept prisoner by Pegasus any longer than he has to be."

"And what if he's dead? What if all this backroom dealing is for nothing?" His tone turned harsh as he pointed out the worst case scenario.

"Judgement." Yugi's tone was firm, and she could feel her darker self backing her up on it. "And justice. For Mokuba. And everyone else he's hurt."

"You'd kill Crawford?" Kaiba did not believe her.

"I'd let Anesan Challenge him," She promised him, still matching his gaze. "And I wouldn't stand in her way or judge. Someone once told me that the Shadow Games were originally meant to cast judgement on those who have done wrong. By hurting innocent people, he's earned that judgement. Pegasus has to be stopped."

"Is Kujaku in on this?" Kaiba asked, wondering if she had spoken to the other Duellist about this yet, and if the little Yugi had felt like this about him towards the end of Death-T.

"I haven't had a chance to speak to her yet." Yugi's shoulders sank as she sighed, pretty sure that, considering Mai needed the prize money, just like Jou did, she would not be keen on the idea of helping them out. She was going to try, but she was not holding out much hope.

Kaiba nodded sharply, considering the offer. If it had been anyone else coming to him and anyone else in the semi-finals, he would have told them where to go. Until Yugi had come along he had been undefeated. Then Oneesan had beaten him. Twice.

He was tempted to inform her that he was disinclined to accept her assistance. The fact she had basically come to him to beg for his help in case he knocked her and her mutt out of the tournament was not lost on him, even if she dressed it up as worry for his brother.

However, he was very aware that he owed the fact his brother had been free and well cared for when he had reached the island to Yugi and her friends, AND that Yugi had been hurt protecting him from Shadow magic. It would repay what he owed them if he ensured that her family was reunited and her mutt's needs were fulfilled.

"What, exactly, does Jonouchi need?" he asked, noting the surprise on her face when he actually used the mutt's name.

"Shizuka, his Imoto-chan, needs a specialist operation." Yugi hoped Jou would not be too mad at her for explaining, but if Kaiba was going to assist them, he needed to know. "The prize money's the only way to pay for it."

Kaiba paused to try to remember if his background checks had mentioned a little sister when he had been preparing for Death-T. Mokuba had brought it up briefly, but he could not remember the details he had on his servers. Probably because it had not been relevant to the games.

Before he could ask for details or give Yugi his answer, servants headed down the corridor towards them, carrying food. He huffed and stepped aside to let them into the room and he saw Yugi step back, not entirely pleased at being interrupted herself.

She caught his gaze as the servants streamed in and out of the room, questioning him with her look.

He did not answer her, not yet. Instead he strode into the room and retook his seat. He could see Yugi's shoulders had sunk further as she followed him in, but in credit to her, if she did believe that he had rejected her truce, she did not outwardly seem upset about it. Instead she turned to the meal they had been provided with a gusto that suggested she had not eaten for most of the day.

As he ate he thought through the offer properly. Oneesan was the only person who had ever beaten him in a game. If Mokuba was alive, and that was a big if, then she was an obstacle to getting him back. He could not just remove her from Duellist Kingdom; that would be cheating and would probably incur another Penalty from Pegasus. As such he had to take her into account in his plans.

His background checks had been thorough when it came to Mutou Yugi. He was fully aware that she was an only child who had been left with her Ojiisan by her parents, who just seemed to have vanished when she had been only a few years old. He had found death certificates for both of them, but no bodies had ever been found, so he was not certain of the validity. Mutou Sugoroku had given up his archaeological digs and globe-trotting to raise his granddaughter and, despite the shop bringing in, at best, a small profit that just about kept it running and the Mutous living, he had always done his best by her.

There was no way that Yugi would ever just give him the duel, not when the man who had raised her was at stake, and from what he had been able to tell, Oneesan felt just as strongly despite having only known the man for a few months. With the eyesight of the mutt's sister on the line too, he could pretty much guarantee that he would be in a tough duel when he fought against them.

The question was, how sure was he that he could win? How certain that Pegasus would not just try to have him killed before the duels started?

He was about to start his soup when he was yanked rudely out of his thoughts by a large screen lowering from the ceiling above the fireplace at the other end of the table and Pegasus appearing on screen.

Yugi immediately switched with Oneesan, who glowered at the man as he spoke. "Welcome, finalists!"

Jou scowled up at the screen, causing Mai to glance, confused, between the friends she had made last night and the CEO of Industrial Illusions, wondering what they knew that she did not.

"All the Duelists in this castle have very important reasons to be here, be it the hope for a brighter future, to protect a loved one, or in the memory of someone close to your heart." Pegasus paused for effect, his gaze clearly turning to Kaiba, who did not rise to the bait, except to stare coldly at him with none of the anger that was boiling away under the surface visible. "But now the game truly starts. From here on in, you are adversaries. Enemies. You cannot support each other any longer. If you want to win, you have to destroy those who oppose you on the duelling field."

Mai's gaze tracked across her opponents. She had been telling them such since she had realised that Yugi and Jonouchi were friends. This was it. Kill or be killed. No matter what their goals were, if they cared about what their adversary wanted, they would not be able to win.

Four pictures appeared at the bottom of the screen. Oneesan could not help but wonder how Pegasus had managed to get his hands on the portrait pictures of Imoto-chan and Jou from their school records as they flipped face down, along with pictures of both Kaiba and Mai.

The four images spun and twisted, crossing over each other so many times that Jou lost track of which one was which as they came to a stop, paired together.

The first pair flipped face up, revealing Yugi and Mai.

"Yugi Mutou against Mai Kujaku." Pegasus sounded smugly pleased at the outcome, like he had been hoping for it. "An all female semi-final! This will be a good chance to find out who the world's best female Duellist truly is!"

Oneesan's sharp gaze turned to Mai, who did not back down. While she had wanted to fight Yugi in the finals, she was not going to do anything less than her best against her new friend. Pegasus was right about one thing. While, yes, technically Yugi was the World Champion of Duel Monsters right now, her previous duel against Kaiba had not been an official title match, which meant, for now, Mai was still the highest ranked female Duellist in the world.

This semi-final match could change all that, and Mai was determined that she was not going to lose her title as the world's best without a fight. Not when she had been through such pretenders as Vivian Wong to earn it.

Oneesan was just as determined to win. Her Ojiisan's soul was at stake, and she was not going home without him. She refused. If that meant going through Mai, then so be it.

The second set of 'cards' flipping on the screen made the pair break their staring match and look up in time to see Jou and Kaiba's images appear.

"And Katsuya Jonouchi will face off against Seto Kaiba. The rising star against the World Champion? Who could possibly tell how that duel will go? You'd have to be a mind reader." The King of the Castle sounded far too amused as he taunted them.

Jou frowned as he looked at the CEO of Kaiba Corp. He had no idea what Yugi had wanted to talk to Kaiba about. He suspected that she had offered a truce. It would have been Yugi all over to have done so. However, he was not going to screw up now. Shizuka needed him, and he was not going to fail her. He had promised her that he was going to walk away with the prize money she needed for her eye operation.

Kaiba stared back coldly. Yugi had made it clear that the mutt had a lot at stake in this tournament, but he could not honestly say that he cared. His company and everything his brother had worked so hard to protect while Seto had been comatose were in danger of falling into Crawford's sweaty hands. He was not going to let it go without a fight, and he was not going to give up the chance to rip Crawford limb from limb for ordering Mokuba's death if his brother truly was dead.

"Each of you finalists will need to present your right to be here on entering the Duel Arena tomorrow." Crawford looked smug as all four of them turned to look at him. He held up the card with the piles of gold on that had come with the time and date for the ship to Duellist Kingdom.

"The Glory of the King's Hand will provide the one who presents it with the riches of the island. Three million yen. To spend on whatever the winner desires." Jou and Mai pulled their cards out of their pockets and looked at them, both desiring the money but for very, very different reasons.

"If you present The Glory of the King's Opposite Hand and win the tournament however," Pegasus continued, holding up the blank card, "your reward could be so much more. The Duelist who shows me The Glory of the King's Opposite Hand will enter the Title Match where the victor can demand anything from the loser. Anything at all. You could even take Industrial Illusions from me when you walk away as the King or Queen of Games." Oneesan's eyes widened as her hand went to her pocket, where her entry card was resting. "Of course, the loser must surrender to the demands of the winner. Even your soul could be on the line."

That was why the card was blank, Oneesan realised. If she lost, she too would lose her soul. It would be sealed within the Glory of the King's Opposite Hand.

She glanced up at Kaiba, knowing that he too would be under the same threat, only to see he had gone so still that she would almost have mistaken him for a statue. She could not know what he was thinking, but Pegasus's smug words broke though her thoughts.

"Do your best tomorrow, Duelists. I look forward to seeing the best you have to offer and getting to meet the real you on the duelling field."

With that the screen cut out.

Kaiba shot to his feet, chair going clattering to the floor, and stalked out of the door before anyone could stop him or say a word.

Mai huffed as she stood more gracefully, "I told you, we can't be friends and get what we want. Once this is over, I'm happy to stay in contact, Yugi, but I will be the one to walk away with that prize money."

Then she left too, leaving Oneesan and her friends in the dining room to finish their soup.


End file.
